What is the real reason for the suspension of the Russian TV channel broadcasting in Armenia?
May 30 2024, 14:30
The reality we live in continues to amaze. While the MP from the Civil Contract faction accuses the opposition of “being paid in rubles,” statements are being made in the Russian Federation Council that “Pashinyan’s positions are strong, and Russia is ready to work with any government.” On the same day, when a Russian senator speaks about the strength of Pashinyan’s position, Armenia decides that the broadcasting of Russia’s leading state TV channel will be suspended.
Mkhitar Hayrapetyan, the Armenian Minister of High-Tech Industry, gave explanations, stating that the broadcast of Russian Channel One was terminated due to debt.
“Channel One has not fulfilled its contractual obligations, having accumulated debt in 2.5 months,” he said, noting that the broadcast was temporarily suspended until the debt was fully paid off.
We would like to understand what will happen if the activities of Armenian business entities that have certain problems with Russian legislation and financial debt are banned in Russia. And what will happen if Russia begins to obstruct all entities associated with Armenia for political reasons? The broadcasting of Russian Channel One was suspended precisely for political reasons.
To begin with, the Minister of High-Tech Industry is one of the most trusted people of the Pashinyan family; otherwise, he would not have been appointed executive director of Anna Hakobyan’s My Step Charitable Foundation. Hayrapetyan was appointed to the post of minister with a specific political mission to combat Russia’s presence in Armenia’s information field. By the way, do you remember how Josep Borrel promised Armenia the EU’s support against information manipulation at the “most important” April meeting in Brussels with Nikol Pashinyan?
The nervousness of the authorities towards Channel One manifested itself several months ago, when one of the episodes of the show, The Dolls of the Heir Tutti, was dedicated to Armenia’s domestic policy.
But what triggered the authorities the most was a Channel One report, which was released on May 26th, the day of Bagrat Srbazan’s rally in Republic Square, when it was announced that 100,000 people participated in the rally.
The speech of Russian MP Konstantin Zatulin on Channel One also played an important role in the decision to stop broadcasting the channel, when the MP responded to Pashinyan’s recent accusations against “two CSTO countries of helping Azerbaijan.” Zatulin also pointed out that Armenia itself had abandoned Artsakh. It is clear that after another dose of truth on the air on Channel One, Pashinyan could no longer tolerate Russian TV broadcasts. Formally, it is said that broadcasting has been temporarily suspended; however, as you know, there is nothing more permanent than temporary.
In general, it is surprising how the Armenian authorities react to Russia’s retaliatory attacks. It is strange to believe that in the modern world, where information from one part of the world reaches in seconds to another part of the world, Russia would not have noticed how Nikol Pashinyan is badmouthing it from the rostrum of the National Assembly.
It is also ridiculous that someone thinks that in the modern world it is possible to stop the flow of information by banning the broadcasting of a TV channel…
Equally important, if today some politicians openly talk about how Pashinyan surrendered Artsakh, imagine what will come out after political changes in Armenia and what we will find out, especially about October 19th, 2020, the day when Pashinyan put the first nail in the coffin of Artsakh statehood…
Think about it…