British Embassy Election Scandal
Elections in Armenia are nothing short of exciting, and the news of the moment is a scandal that now surrounds the Orinats Yerkir party of former National Assembly Speaker Artur Baghdasarian and my own British Embassy. Apparently, Baghdasarian was secretly recorded urging the Deputy British Ambassador, Richard Hyde, to condemn the coming 12 May parliamentary election as already being undemocratic.
RFE/RL reports on the latest scandal to hit my Embassy.
The British embassy in Armenia condemned on Thursday the secret recording of a recent conversation between one of its diplomats and opposition leader Artur Baghdasarian that reportedly centered on the upcoming parliamentary elections.
Meanwhile, “Golos Armenii,” a newspaper sympathetic to the country’s leadership, published more excerpts from what it described as the transcript of the meeting held in a popular Yerevan restaurant last February. It also identified the diplomat in question as Richard Hyde, the deputy chief of the British mission.
[…]
Hyde was said to have responded that the Armenian authorities are very shrewd and cautious in ensuring a desirable outcome of the vote. “I suppose that they are smarter and wiser than we. And many Europeans understand that. There has to be some blatant violation in order for the EU to come up with such a statement,” he was quoted as saying.
[…]
The British mission denied “Golos Armenii” claims that such meetings constitute an illegal interference in Armenia’s internal affairs, saying that it maintains contacts with a broad range of Armenian parties contesting the elections. “This enables us to form as complete and objective a view as possible of the political process, and is in line with the normal and accepted practice of any embassy anywhere in the world,” it said.
“It is not, never has been and cannot be, our business to support the political platform of any specific political party,” added the statement.
[…]
Hyde allegedly told Baghdasarian that only three of the eight EU countries having diplomatic missions in Yerevan — Britain, Germany, and Poland — are genuinely interested in the freedom and fairness of the Armenian elections. He was also cited as predicting that two other prominent opposition leaders, Raffi Hovannisian and Vazgen Manukian, could boycott the parliamentary elections and concentrate instead on the presidential ballot due early next year. “This is what I would do in this situation,” the diplomat said, according to “Golos Armenii.”
Manukian’s National Democratic Union (AZhM) subsequently opted for an election boycott.
Interestingly, some pro-government figures allege that the British Embassy is funding a few pro-opposition organizations in the run-up to the election under a very ambiguous and somewhat secretive small grants program. Others also allege that some of those grants are disbursed to friends and relatives of local staff members with particular political goals. I know of at least one case in this regard, but this is unfortunately normal for about every international organization and diplomatic mission in Armenia so we probably shouldn’t be surprised.
Anyway, the British Embassy has reacted harshly to this latest development, and A1 Plus carries its official response. Interestingly, the Embassy has not denied the reports, but has rather decided to criticize the way in which the information was obtained.
The British Embassy in Yerevan is dismayed that a clandestine recording has been made, and recently released in part to the press, of a conversation between an official of this Embassy and the leader of an opposition party. We do not propose to comment in detail on the gross misrepresentation of a conversation, details of which appear to have been obtained through dishonest and deplorable means.
The pro-opposition press also responds in no uncertain terms to the news, and they perhaps have a point. Indeed, at the weekend, a senior foreign head of mission remarked that he was now worried about whether he was being clandestinely recorded when he met with various political figures in Armenia. Still, I’m sure MI5 do the same in London too.
For “Zhamanak Yerevan,” the publication by “Golos Armenii” of purported details of former parliament speaker Artur Baghdasarian’s conversation with a Yerevan-based British diplomat is a cause for serious concern. “In effect, nobody can guarantee that their secret conversations are not heard by various undesirable ears,” explains the paper. “Nobody can guarantee that they are not secretly recorded in a public place, be it a café or a park, and that that recording will not be disseminated across the country. Nobody can now be sure that there are no ‘bugs’ planted in their apartment, that their phone conversations are not wire-tapped, that their every step is not watched.”
Anyway, this is not the first scandal to hit the British Embassy in Yerevan, and I daresay it will not be the last. RFE/RL’s report is here.
There’s more coverage on this story over at:
http://ditord.wordpress.com/2007/04/27/armenian-watergate-passes-unnoticed/
http://hnazarian.blogspot.com/2007/04/new-juicy-details-about-baghdasarian.html
Comment by Onnik — April 27, 2007 @ 1:21 pm
This story is just a bubble - I put it in my blog only to advertise the opening of the new E-channel blog, otherwise, it has no value as a newsworthy story.
Comment by Observer — April 27, 2007 @ 2:27 pm
If it wasn’t newsworthy, the British Embassy wouldn’t have issued an official response to the story so I totally disagree when transparency regarding the elections needs to be applied to all the major players, including the international community. RFE/RL also considered it to be a newsworthy story, as did almost every other media outlet in Armenia. Incidentally, your title of “Armenian Watergate” was a bit melodramatic as Watergate involved the breaking in and entering of a political party headquarters to plant bugs whereas this was the recording of a conversation in a public space where almost anyone could eavesdrop, but anyway.
Comment by Onnik — April 27, 2007 @ 2:39 pm
There’s an update on this story here.
Comment by Onnik — April 29, 2007 @ 5:25 pm
Parliamentary Election Monitor
Following on from what some civil society and pro-opposition activists are calling an “Armenian Watergate,” RFE/RL has an update on the apparent scandal surrounding the clandestine recording of a meeting between Orinats Yerkir party leader…
Trackback by Oneworld Multimedia — May 2, 2007 @ 11:59 pm
Orinats Yerkir’s Baghdasarian Defiant
Artur Baghdasarian, Orinats Yerkir Campaign Rally, Shengavit, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia for EurasiaNet 2007
Writing for RFE/RL, Emil Danielyan covers yesterday’s rally by Orinats Yerkir fresh from t…
Trackback by Oneworld Multimedia — May 3, 2007 @ 12:24 am
Onnik - I’m not pro-opposition, and I’m not anybody’s activist, and I’m the only one calling it the Armenian Watergate on my blogs and at E-channel.
No offense
Comment by Observer — May 3, 2007 @ 8:57 am
in fact - i’m only pro-Armenia, and that, in my view involves pro-Democracy, so I’ll work for the type of Armenia I dream about using all legal and illegal means
Comment by Observer — May 3, 2007 @ 8:59 am
Actually, you’re not the only one calling it an “Armenian Watergate,” although maybe the others got the idea from you. Interestingly, even a senior official in Orinats Yerkir called it that when I ran into him at the weekend.
There you go, you’re being read…
Comment by Onnik — May 3, 2007 @ 12:25 pm
Incidentally, by your own admission you say you’re part of Sksela which is very definitely a pro-opposition group more than it is a simple civil society or youth grouping. At least one its three main organizers is pro-HHSh, and I’m told that another is the son of a former HHSh official, while the third is the son of a senior opposition candidate from a minor political party running in the election.
Besides, there appears to be close links between Sksela and Aylentrank/Impeachment. Anyway, feel free to counter my understanding of Sksela from what I’ve heard and what I’ve seen. Unfortunately, there is not much transparency at all in place for the organization, and I think everybody understands what the real objective of the group is.
Comment by Onnik — May 3, 2007 @ 12:33 pm