Who distorts?
"A1+" distorts-this is what is posted on the Azeri day.az electronic media website. The electronic press copied the article written by the "Arminfo" agency in which Igor Muradyan, who considers himself a serious politician, complains about "A1+" and says that the article on the "A1+" website has nothing to do with his opinions.
This is not the first time that politician Igor Muradyan wrongly accuses "A1+" of "distortion". The public simply has to know how people who consider themselves independent politicians sometimes judge others however they see fit.
With the purpose of securing pluralism, which we advise our colleagues at "Arminfo" to do, the "A1+" correspondent talked with pro-ANC politician Hmayak Hovhannisyan and anti-ANC politician Igor Muradyan about the upcoming elections for council of elders of Yerevan to be held on May 31.
"A1+" simply extenuated Igor Muradyan's informally expressed views and insults against political figures in Russian. The rest, including the corrected form of the content, was translated into Armenian and put on our website.
Now we are forced to present the sound recording of the interview.
For the purpose of comparison, we are printing the section of the article on Igor Muradyan put on the website on March 16, 2009. We leave it up to the reader to find even a single difference or, as the politician says, "evident distortion".
Section from the article "Will there be another March 1?" printed on March 16, 2009:
"The elections for mayor of Yerevan are openly politicized and the political field is stretching further," says another politician Igor Muradyan.
Muradyan understands the aim in terms of political techniques: Levon Ter-Petrosyan is running for mayor and if elected, Stepan Demirchyan will become deputy mayor. Levon Ter-Petrosyan will be involved in political issues, while Demirchyan will take care of the economy. "It is a great way to divide the labor. The authorities must put in a lot of effort to find a more or less decent candidate so that they will not hand over the power to Ter-Petrosyan," told "A1+" Igor Muradyan.
According to Muradyan, in the current situation it is nonsensical to talk about concession of power because "any concession by the authorities will mean handover of power". Muradyan predicts that the authorities will continue to "push" Beglaryan forward.
"Of course, Beglaryan is nothing compared to Ter-Petrosyan, but who cares about political values and the political image? We're talking about a crude struggle. There will obviously be application of force, big scandals and I don't exclude the repetition of the events of March 1." According to Muradyan, nobody has anything to lose.
"The opposition's pretensions are so high that if the authorities give in, that will signal the start of losing power," said Igor Muradyan.
