IT IS NEVER TOO LATE TO RETURN

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[07:59 pm] 16 December, 2008

Who must apologize on behalf of the Republic of Armenia for
disrespecting all Diaspora Armenians by denying Jirair Sefilyan and
when?" asked the administration today historian, Diaspora Armenian
Gevorg Yazrchyan taking into account the fact that the President,
the Catholicos of All Armenians, the Prime Minister, the Diaspora
Minister and others have already apologized for the deprivations
and issues that those who repatriated in 1946-1948 faced during the
conference "The Great Repatriation of 1946-1948 and lessons learned"
held December 12-14 in Tsakhkadzor.

Did you ask the state officials the question regarding Sefilyan’s
citizenship during the conference? In response to this, Yazrchyan said:

"No, that issue was raised in front of everyone by Syrian Armenian
Garbis Lepenjyan."

Yazrchyan marked that during the conference, the RA administration
accepted that the reasons behind the huge flow of emigration from
Armenia are not socio-economic, but rather legal. "People are not
coming back to the homeland due to scandalous injustices and they
leave for the same reason."

One of the members of the Armenian Volunteers’ Union Hayk Nahapetyan
made some references to the speeches made by state officials during the
conference. Serzh Sargsyan said: "Our government will do everything it
can to contribute to the establishment and preservation of Armenian
identity, as well as repatriation. The homeland of all Armenians is
always waiting for its children. It is never too late to return."

The prime minister’s speech was rather inspiring as well: "We are
witnessing the formation of a new world order and we don’t have
the right to make mistakes or wrong predictions so that we won’t
have to apologize again for implementing a fruitless repatriation
program." After making references to the speeches, Nahapetyan appealed
to the gathered:

"Do you think that our fellow Armenians in the Diaspora will take
these words seriously, or the reality that non-Armenian citizen
Lebanese Armenian Jirair Sefilyan is living in?"

Hayrapetyan considers the denial of Sefilyan’s appeals as the decision
of diminutive and evil people at the top of the ruling pyramid.

Sefilyan’s last appeal for RA citizenship was denied on November
18. "This attitude not only shows illegality and injustice out in the
open, but also the waywardness of Armenians, especially for somebody
dedicated to his nation. We will do everything we can to put an end
to the waywardness of this administration."

Members of the Armenian Volunteers’ Union explain the RA
administration’s decision to not grant citizenship to Sefilyan by the
enmity of the administration, which doesn’t forgive critics regardless
of whether they are locals or Diaspora Armenians.