P.A.C.E. RESOLUTION REFERS TO THE POLITICAL ARENA ON THE WHOLE
Gevorg Haroutyunyan

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
June 25, 2008
Armenia

KIRO MANOYAN, person in charge of the ARFD Central Office of "Hay Dat"
and Political Affairs, was the guest-speaker of "Pastark" (argument)
club yesterday.

Mr. Manoyan considered the hearings organized by US House of Foreign
Affairs Committee (concerning the US Policy in the South Caucasus
region) one of the most important events of the recent period. The
thing is that several Congressmen have introduced in the agenda of
the discussions such issues as Armenia’s being blockaded by Turkey
and Azerbaijan, the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, the problem
of Artsakh etc. It is noteworthy that these hearings were followed
by serious Senate discussions over appointing a new US Ambassador
in Armenia, and the issue of recognizing the Armenian Genocide was
touched upon again.

Despite stressing the fact that Democratic candidate B. O’bama has
publicly reiterated his commitment to recognize the Armenian Genocide
and, during the Senate discussions, even sent a written request to
the nominee for the Ambassador in Armenia as well as called on the
executive to recognize the fact of the Armenian Genocide, K. Manoyan
also reminded the participants of the press conference that promises
and desires do not always come true in politics.

The person in charge of the ARFD Central Office of "Hay Dat" and
Political Affairs, publicized interesting information according to
which, "Around ten days ago, the Turks had a meeting with Mr. O’bama’s
Advisors who said that O’bama was going to recognize the Armenia
Genocide unless the Congress did the same before his being elected a
President. He has also committed himself to solving the Artsakh issue
based on the principles of justice and establishing the country’s
closer ties with Armenia.

With regard to other issues, O’bama’s approaches to do not coincide
with the classical approaches of Washington; they are based on the
public opinion of the United States. For instance, he is in favor of
initiating a dialogue with Iran, and this is an unprecedented event."

K. Manoyan expressed conviction that the requirement of Armenia’s
compliance with its commitments under Resolution # 1609, an issue to
be discussed in the PACE summer session, will refer to the Armenian
opposition as well. "One of the requirements is that the opposition
recognize the decision of the Constitutional Court. And if the
opposition continues to argue the legitimacy of the authorities,
it will mean that it doesn’t meet the requirements of Resolution
# 1609. The PACE has taken into consideration not only the steps
undertaken by the opposition but also the presence of their political
will. Resolution # 1609 refers to the political arena on the whole
and not to this or that political group.

The speaker expressed belief that the Armenian Foreign Ministry will
not introduce landmark changes in its strategic approaches and will
mainly be engaged in restoring our country’s international reputation.

And before the end of the presidential elections in Azerbaijan and the
United States, there will be no significant progress in the Artsakh
settlement process. "However, the Co-Chairs of the Minsk Group will
continue their active work. Besides, the peaceful settlement talks will
continue because this is the only way for preventing and disallowing
the military solutions and putting an end to Azerbaijan’s bellicose
threats. In this process, it is necessary to speedily implement the
resettlement programs in Nagorno Karabakh. This is what Artsakh needs,
and we mustn’t lose time any more."

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress