GOAL OF ARFD’S ACTIONS IS TO ONCE MORE RAISE ISSUE OF GENOCIDE BEFORE
TURKISH PRESIDENT, ARMEN RUSTAMIAN SAYS

Y EREVAN, SEPTEMBER 4, NOYAN TAPAN. Armen Rustamian, a representative of
the ARFD Armenian Supreme Body, assured that the actions to be
initiated by Dashnaktsutiun on the day of Turkish President Abdullah
Gul’s visit are not aimed either against the foreign policy of Serzh
Sargsyan inviting him to Armenia or against A. Gul’s visit. As he
stated at the September 4 press conference, the goal of
Dashnaktsutiun’s actions is to once more raise the issue of Genocide
before Gul and to personally present the demand of recognition of the
fact of Genocide to him. According to A. Rustamian, unless such actions
are organized, on the very day following the visit the Turks will
announce all over the world that in the presence of their President
Armenians "did not say a word" about the issue of Genocide. After that
Turkey, according to A. Rustamian, the international community will say
that its observations that the Genocide is the problem of the Armenian
Diaspora and not of Armenia were right.

The ARFD figure informed those present that party’s activists will
start their actions on September 5, from the moment of A. Gul’s
arrival, at the airport. The next day, the day of Armenia-Turkey
football match, the demonstrants will visit Tsitsernakaberd Memorial
Complex and will keep lighting torches there during the whole game. And
appeals to recognize the Genocide will be voiced at the stadium during
the game. Meanwhile A. Rustamian stressed that ARFD calls its
supporters for not yielding to provocations and not making clashes with
Turkish football fans.

He classed as "extreme" the mood in Armenian society in connection with
the anticipated visit of the Turkish President. "They are so happy that
one forms an impression that we are meeting our missing brother," A.
Rustamian said. According to him, it was also unnecessary that the
Football Federation very quickly changed its logo replacing the image
of Mount Ararat by the image of a ball.