Edmond Y. Azadian
While the Cold War is intensifying over the Syrian crisis, pitting
again the old warriors against each other, an internal crisis is brewing
in Armenia with broad ramifications; this time the oligarchy is on the
defensive, mind you, not yet on the run.
In order to put the crisis in perspective a background flashback is warranted here.
Since Armenia emerged as an independent country, it claimed to have
adopted the system of market economy, replacing the Soviet-style command
economy. But it turned out that only the worst traits of capitalism
were adopted and practiced giving rise to a sharp divide between the
rich and the poor. A caste of oligarchs evolved, making its own rules of
conduct and placing itself over the law and the constitution.
