Guess Who's
Funding Anti-Russian Protests in Armenia?
New
Armenia Protests, Same US-Backed Mobs
By Tony
Cartalucci
April 28,
2016 "Information
Clearing House"
- "NEO"-
Another
day, another protest in Armenia. And if we were to
simply believe the Western media regarding this
‘other protest,’ we might get the impression that
the Armenian people are upset with Russian policy
and “Putinism.” In reality, the protests are led by
the same verified US-proxies exposed at the height
of the “Electric Yerevan” protests mid-2015 which
sought to undermine and overthrow the current
government of Armenia in favor of a pro-Western
political front more to Wall Street, London, and
Brussels’ liking.
The
International Business Times in their article, “Armenia-Russia
Ties Under Question Amid Fighting, Anti-Moscow
Protests,” would report regarding the recent
protests that:
At a
recent thousand-strong demonstration in the
capital of Armenia, Davit Sanasaryan took out a
couple of eggs and threw them at the Russian
Embassy.
The gesture provoked both ridicule and approval
in this small landlocked country that
traditionally values very close ties with its
large northern neighbor. “Our protests are not
against Russia but against Russian policy and
Putinism,” activist and politician Sanasaryan
said in an interview with International Business
Times last week.
Davit
Sanasaryan (also spelled “David Sanasaryan”), among
other things, is an opposition politician with the
Heritage Party who helped lead the previous
US-backed “Electric Yerevan protests in mid-2015. He
is also an associate of the Armenian-based National
Citizens’ Initiative (NCI), revealed in the NCI’s
own news bulletin titled, “NCI
Focuses on Armenia’s Mining Sector,” which
reports (emphasis added):
NCI associate Davit Sanasarian welcomed
the audience with opening remarks. “The
exploitation of the Teghut mine is an actual
matter and it calls for serious discussions and
proper suggestions prior to the undertaking of
this project,” he said.
This
bulletin alone seems innocuous enough, however,
another NCI bulletin would reveal itself to be
coordinating with and receiving aid from the US
National Endowment for Democracy (NED). The bulletin
titled, “NCI
Partakes in a Civil Society Meeting,” states
(emphasis added):
The
National Citizens’ Initiative (NCI)
representatives attended, between 14 and 15
April 2011, the conference entitled “Assisting
Armenia’s Civil Society Organizations.” This
event was an initiative of the European
Partnership for Democracy (EPD) organization and
the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe (OSCE) Yerevan Office, and it was
organized with the assistance of the National
Endowment for Democracy (NED).
The objective of the conference was to
contribute in developing the capacity of
Armenia’s civil society organizations by way of
cooperation and exchange of know-how with
Central and Eastern European civil society
associations.
Of course,
considering that the US NED is chaired by pro-war
corporate-financier representatives, “developing the
capacity of civil society organizations” in Armenia
was not actually on the agenda. Instead, creating a
proxy front with which to control Armenia on behalf
of foreign interests was, merely couched behind
“civil society.” Sanasarian’s “association” with the
NCI in this context, is troubling to say the least.
But
Sanasarian’s association with the US NED extends far
beyond this. He is also on the board of trustees of
the Armenian Institute of International and Security
Affairs (AIISA), an alleged think-tank that is
directly funded by the US NED. His position on
the board of trustees is revealed in an AIISA
bulletin titled, “AIISA’s
Third Evening DemSchool: “Challenges to Democracy,””
which claims:
In
partnership with the US National Endowment for
Democracy (NED), the third 11-day evening
DemSchool was launched at the Armenian Institute
of International and Security Affairs with
“Challenges to Democracy” heading.
It also
stated:
Certificate award ceremony was held on the
DemSchool 11th day. David Sanasaryan, member of
AIISA Board of Trustees, young politician and
activist, also participated in it.
Added to
this, is Sanasarian’s role in the US-backed 2015
protests. It
was revealed in mid-2015 that the so-called
“Electric Yerevan” protests were in fact led
entirely by US-funded and directed nongovernmental
organizations (NGOs). Sanasarian’s involvement then,
again implicates him in coordinating with and
receiving aid from a foreign government in a bid to
undermine his own government. At the time, US State
Department-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL)
would report in its article, “Armenians
Say They’ll Restart ‘Electric Yerevan’ Protest,”
that:
At a
Yerevan rally attended by several hundred
activists on July 17, Rise Armenia leader and
opposition Heritage party city councilor Davit
Sanasarian said a new campaign against the
electricity price hikes would take place from
July 27 to July 31, with demonstrators blocking
the central streets of Yerevan and other cities
around the country.
“We continue our fight. We will be distributing
leaflets from door to door,” Sanasarian said.
“We will be successful.”
RFE/RL
would inadvertently admit that the protesters were
simply using electricity prices as a pretext to come
out into the streets and that their next move would
be of a more political nature, targeting Armenia’s
sitting government. In other words, it was a
US-funded color revolution couched behind legitimate
concerns regarding utility prices.
Considering
these extensive ties to US-backing, Sanasarian’s
role leading the current anti-Russian protests
portrays him not as a ‘politician’ or an ‘activist,’
but as a foreign-funded proxy, and the protests
themselves as foreign-engineered meddling, not
legitimate dissent. Claims that he is fighting
against Russian influence, while all along he is
serving as a conduit for Wall Street, London, and
Brusssels’ influence touches upon the sort of
hypocrisy seen again and again amid engineered
protests targeting the many enemies of Western
hegemony worldwide.
Tony
Cartalucci, Bangkok-based geopolitical researcher
and writer, especially for the online magazine“New
Eastern Outlook |