The processes around the Civilitas Foundation and the criminal prosecution against ex-foreign minister of Armenia Vartan Oskanian are the result of the Armenian authorities' resistance to the West, Leader of the opposition New Times Party, told ArmInfo.
"Through Oskanian and the Foundation founded by Oskanian, the National Security Service is trying to find the modular foundations and organizations that financed Civilitas. These are American, Norwegian and German organizations. Here I see analogues with the actions of the Russian law-enforcers, who search the buildings of non-commercial organizations. The Armenian authorities' actions are an attempt to resist the immense pressure exerted by the West. This pressure is exerted on the elite and Serzh Sargsyan, whom the West has never considered apart from the oligarchic system", said Karapetyan.
He added that the West exerts pressure by means of money, the meaning of the Armenian oligarchy's life. The oppositionist thinks that the money of oligarchs is mostly kept in the Western banks, and today the Western elites have apparently decided to cover up this money or to return only 20-30% of it. "The excitement around Cyprus and the nervous response of Moscow speak volumes. The Cyprian authorities' decision to impose a tax on deposits at the Cyprian banks is a direct blow on the interests of Russian oligarchs and affiliated Armenian oligarchs. It is clear that the Armenian authorities will apparently resist. And the persecution against the Civilitas Foundation is the result of that resistance", he stressed.