PS Retro: Sergey Badalyan was encouraged by Russian fighters (video)
Sergey Badalyan, First Secretary of the Armenian Communist Party, accused the United States and Great Britain of bombing Iraq allegedly for the chemical weapons that Iraq possessed. “This is an expression of terrorism, this is aggression and brigandage at the global level.” Before starting the bombardment, they [the US and Great Britain] could have asked the opinion of Iraqi people. Sergey Badalyan was ready to protest and submit bills for the salvation of the Iraqi people but he believed that the authorities would reject them saying, “You know Americans will not understand us.” The Communist MP did not understand what could connect Armenian authorities with the US. He did not like Saddam Hussein, who had killed a lot of communists. “But there are always interstate relations to consider…” Sergey Badalyan believed that the bombardment was not linked to the Lewinsky scandal that involved U.S. President Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky, a 22-year-old White House intern. “On the other hand, we see that Russia is strengthening again. I think some forces want to exert pressure on Russia.” Still in spring 1999, Mr. Badalyan predicted that America would plunge into unsolvable problems in the next decades. But he did not have illusions that it would take us back to the Soviet Union. “I am sorry to say this but Russia is our only real ally.” In those days, Russia brought to Armenia several fighters which encouraged the Communist MP. “Many countries do not wish us good because of Russia. They want Russia to leave us alone. Some ‘naïve’ politicians think once Russia withdraws its presence from our territory, we will appear under the feet of the West. But Armenia will lose its political weight in that case.” The communist member was preparing for the 1999 elections. “We know what we have, what we have achieved and what problems there are.” “Let people forget that the days of Communists are counted in Armenia." On November 25, 1999, only 7-8 months after these words, Sergey Badalyan died suddenly in Moscow at the age of 52.
