OPPOSITIONIST: I DON’T THINK THERE ARE PEOPLE IN COE WHO UNAMBIGUOUSLY MAKE DEALS WITH ARMENIAN AUTHORITIES
ArmInfo
2008-10-08 23:26:00
ArmInfo. "I don’t think that there are people in the Council of Europe
who unambiguously make deals with the Armenian authorities. The issue
of implementation of PACE Resolutions N1609 and N1620 by Armenia
is not closed", Grigor Harutyunyan, the secretary of Board of the
oppositional People’s Party of Armenia, said to ArmInfo correspondent.
The oppositionist explains the fact that international structures
gave time to Armenia till January, when the situation in Armenia will
be discussed again at the PACE session, by the Europeans’ approach,
according to which abrupt steps against even the worst authorities
may lead to a complete loss of control over them. "I think, this is a
wrong approach. The representatives of European structures accepted
the RA authorities’ arguments that little time had initially been
given for implementation of PACE requirements, consciously allowed
the RA authorities to deceive them.
But Thomas Hammarberg’s latest statement says that no answers have
been given to the raised questions. Now let’s see what the CoE will
do next", Harutyunyan said.
He disagrees with his oppositional colleague Levon Zurabyan, who
recently said that RA authorities were given carte blanche by the
international community for the opposition’s crackdown in exchange for
steps aimed at improvement of Armenian-Turkish relations. "Obviously,
our colleague meant that the authorities are digesting the obstacles
thrown in the opposition’s way by paying a price as improvement
of relations with Turkey and expected return of territories to
Azerbaijan. As a result, an impression arises that the international
structures are bargaining with the authorities", he said.
Furthermore, Serzh Sargsyan shows to the West that no other politician
but him can take pro-Western steps, he added. "Nonetheless, I don’t
think that there are people in the CoE who unambiguously make deals
with RA authorities. In PACE people are responsible before their
voters. And I hope, they will finally give honest assessment to what
is going on in our country", Harutyunyan said in conclusion.