POLITICIANS NOT TO BE ARMED WITH IRON STICKS
Gevorg Haroutyunyan

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
Published on April 16, 2008
Armenia

Interview with HAMLET HAROUTYUNYAN, Head of "Artsakh" Compatriots’
Union and member of the RPA parliamentary faction

"Mr. Haroutyunyan, in the interview published in the Russian
‘Novoe Izvestia’ periodical, LTP, who acts as the leader of the
Armenian political opposition, considers that his principal task is
to form a certain public opinion so as ‘these authorities will not
be recognized’. How do you estimate such an attitude by the Armenian
citizen?"

"The allegation that L. Ter-Petrosyan is the leader of the opposition,
is an insult to our internal political domain. There are dozens of
parties operating on the pro-opposition front, and their addresses are
quite different. Viewing the opposition from the point of view of one
single leader, one single idea and one single goal is a fundamental
mistake. Such mentality eventually results in totalitarianism.

In the internal political domain of our country, it’s not only the
representatives of radical opposition that deny everything because
they haven’t assumed the leadership of the state. The opposition
also consists of parties which are not extremist and which criticize
the activity of the authorities objectively, parties which are
constructive in their manifestations and are guided by the interests
of the state and the people versus complying with the instructions
of some international organizations.

Those who form a public opinion for preventing the authorities from
being recognized again rely on external intervention and demand new
parliamentary elections. I don’t think the decision to dissolve
or maintain the National Assembly should be made arbitrarily. If
there’s someone who has just woken up and is late for the March 12
elections or, has changed his mood, it doesn’t mean the Parliament
should be dissolved.

This, actually, is the regular attempt of destabilizing the internal
political situation rather than a desire of being represented in
the National Assembly. The most recent parliamentary elections were
held just eleven months ago. If they were ready for representing
the opposition, they should have participated in the whole process
instead of quitting the political arena at some stage of the electoral
struggle. Leading our country and people to instability from time to
time and keeping them in tension is the desire of our enemies.

In his interviews, L. Ter-Petrosyan hints that 150 people among his
proponents have been arrested, and they are political prisoners. Only
the court may decide whether the given act constitutes a criminal
offence or a political activity. A person who has committed a criminal
offence cannot be considered a victim of political persecutions.

The March 1 events are not related to politics and have nothing in
common with it. What happened is an attempt of staging a coup d’état
which was supposed to change Armenia’s attitude towards Artsakh. The
coup was organized by people who thought about Armenia from the point
of view of the Azeris, Turks and Americans. A political struggle
presupposes political methods. The one who struggles against his own
state with Mausers and iron sticks cannot be a politician. This is
why, L. Ter-Petrosyan says no single word about the March 1 events
in the interview to ‘Novoe Ivvestia’ periodical. Instead, he tries
to create an opinion that the detainees are peaceful protesters and
not people who provoked clashes with and launched an armed attack
against the law enforcers or committed plunders. Such demonstrations
and marches could not have been spontaneous; they were very properly
organized. There are no foremen, centurions and high captains, no arms
and ammunitions in demonstrations organized spontaneously. Neither
are there acoustic or musical tools of influence used there.

When L. Ter-Petrosyan says he wants to form a certain public
opinion with the purpose of preventing the Armenian authorities
from being recognized, it’s the same as the non-recognition of the
NKR and its authorities, the right of the NKR people to national
self-determination; it’s the same as the non-recognition of Artsakh
as an inseparable part of Armenia."

"What do you think the United States initiative of authorizing Congress
hearings on the internal political situation of Armenia could mean?"

"The discussion of any country’s problem by the legislative body of
another country is considered as a gross intervention in the domestic
affairs of that country. The only trouble of all the international
structures and the states ‘interested’ in the internal situation
of our country consists in seeking ways towards the solution of the
Artsakh issue to the detriment of the Armenians.

Unfortunately, not only separate politicians but also parties yield
to such efforts. And lying behind all these superficial hearings is
the Artsakh issue which is no longer concealed; it is being openly
discussed. The hearings to be organized by the Congress pursue the
same goal"

I call on everybody to be sober because in case of losing Artsakh
we’ll completely lose Armenia. In the course of our history, we,
Armenians, have always lost our statehood in such circumstances."

–Boundary_(ID_2P3hl18Q604av VGP5rgrxw)–