Epress.am News from Armenia
“They say a lot about both Russia and Armenia. I don’t believe those files. I believe our [Russian President Dmitry] Medvedev,” Tatiana, a Russian resident living in Armenia for 8 years, told Epress.am, considering the US cables released by whistleblowers’ website WikiLeaks to be “rumors.”
Epress.am decided to conduct an informal poll of the reaction of Yerevan residents to the leaked US diplomatic cables. Quite a large number of those who spoke with us said they don’t believe the revelations. Not only that, the majority of respondents confessed that they don’t take an interest in politics.
“I’m familiar [with the leaked cables]; I know, I’ve heard. What they said about governments, that’s politics, I’m not involved in politics. For me, it’s all the same,” said an approximately 40-year-old man named Hovakim, standing in the doorway of a shop, fingering a string of prayer beads.
A thirty-year old man declined from responding to questions related to WikiLeads, saying those revelations don’t interest him at all.
After attentively listening to the question, an elderly woman responded in Russian, “It seems to me, this is a game.” Asked specifically what she considers to be a game, Angela, after thinking for a while, said “Everything, generally is a game.”
During the informal “survey,” Epress.am correspondents met with another woman, who moved to Armenia from Russia, who also said she’s not interested in the WikiLeaks revelations.
Some said that WikiLeaks hasn’t really uncovered anything new. “We knew all that long ago. But it’s still not clear what documents WikiLeaks provides, what consequences it will have. It’s too soon to have an opinion on that. Later, it’ll be clear what this was,” said 63-year-old Suren.
The dried fruits and nuts vendor said, “if they’re writing about it, then there’s something there.” Asked, in his opinion, what’s the purpose of publicizing the files, he said, “Probably to tear someone’s face.” He, however, had difficulty saying exactly who he meant.