ARMAN MELIKIAN: MY ELECTORATE IS ALL THOSE, WHO ARE AGAINST CEDING TERRITORIES

Noyan Tapan
Dec 24 2007

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 24, NOYAN TAPAN. "My electorate is all those, who
are against ceding the territories, corruption and illegal actions,"
Arman Melikian, the former Adviser to the NKR President, a candidate
for the forthcoming presidential elections, stated at the December 24
press conference. He also said that if he is elected, the country’s
Foreign Minister will no longer speak about the possibility of ceding
the liberated territories.

According to A. Melikian, the approaches of the main candidates of
the authorities and opposition, Prime Minister Serge Sargsian and
first RA President Levon Ter-Petrosian over the Nagorno Karabakh
settlement are becoming closer and closer. Therefore, in case of
the second tour in the presidential elections he does not advise
his electorate to vote for any of them. In A. Melikian’s words, if
S. Sargsian and L. Ter-Petrosian pass to the second tour, the people
will have to choose not between the bad and the worst, but between
two worst variants.

Stating that the Nagorno Karabakh problem is very valuable for
Europe, the United States, Russia, and Armenia’s immediate neighbors,
A. Melikian said that "perhaps the only party, which does not realize
that value, is Armenia."

According to him, by realizing the problem’s real value, the Armenian
party can make its efforts very efficient in the process of problem’s
settlement.

However, in A. Melikian’s words, it will be very difficult for the
current Armenian authorities, "as years running they presented another
view and agreed to other approaches dictated to them." In particular,
the Armenian authorities are constantly trying to show that the
problem of refugees has been finally solved in Armenia. However,
according to A. Melikian, it does not correspond to reality, as at
least the half of the refugees has left Armenia and the most part
of those, who have remained in the country, does not have and does
not wish to have RA citizenship. Besides, the assistance provided to
refugees was on the part of Armenia, while it should have been done
by Azerbaijan. According to A. Melikian, raising the issue of the
Armenian refugees supposes change of approaches adopted so far, which
will be easier to do under conditions of new President’s election.