Wiki reaction: Dashnak representative says Wikileaks revelations can have influence upon Armenian-American relations

By Siranuysh Gevorgyan
ArmeniaNow reporter

Armenian political circles have been slow in response to the Armenia-related publications of the whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks that leaked classified international documents. One of the publications says Armenia has exported arms to Iran, another says President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has an influence upon the Armenian-Turkish protocols process.

Official Yerevan, meanwhile, does not comment on the Wikileaks reports made public through different international media.

President Serzh Sargsyan's spokesman said: "I would refrain from giving comments in regards with internal, secret documents of another country."

Giro Manoyan, Director of the International Secretariat of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) Bureau in Yerevan, told ArmeniaNow that the number of documents directly related to Armenia is considerable, among thousands released so far.

"The documents, referring to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the Armenian-Turkish protocols prove what we were talking about long ago, mainly that the Armenian-Turkish relations are determined by the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, and the United States has also somehow put up with it," Manoyan says.

Speaking about the cable sent from (then) U.S. Under Secretary of State John Negroponte to President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan, warning Armenia that its (Armenia's) participation in transferring weapons to Iran could damage U.S.-Armenia relations and perhaps "derail" Karabakh peace talks, Manoyan said:

"The letter about exporting weapons to Iran proves that the United States, in fact, does not possess enough bases to impose sanctions against Armenia. The letter shows that they, in fact, tried to prevent [the export]," Manoyan said, adding that the publication of the documents will not be without consequences, and some problems may emerge in the Armenian-American relations.

ArmeniaNow asked political analysts and oppositional and pro-government political figures' opinions about the release of the documents, but they said they had not yet read them.

Meanwhile, the U.S. White House has said President Barack Obama supports open and accountable government, but described the WikiLeaks action as "reckless and dangerous".