ARF CONDEMNS TURKISH-ARMENIAN AGREEMENT

Asbarez
/2009_1
Thursday, April 23, 2009

The Armenian Revolutionary Federation on Thursday strongly condemned
an agreement announced by Ankara and Yerevan and said it could pull
out of Armenia’s governing coalition in protest. Armenia’s main
opposition forces also gave a highly negative assessment of the deal.

The party issued the following announcement:

"The pivotal issue on Armenia’s political and the national agenda in
recent months has been the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations.

The Armenian Revolutionary Federation has declared, time and again,
that good-neighborly relations between the two countries can only be
established after the recognition by Turkey of the Armenian Genocide
and the restoration of the rights of the Armenian people. The lifting
of the blockade and the establishment of diplomatic relations,
without preconditions, can only serve as first steps on this path. It
is absolutely unacceptable for us that relations with Turkey be
normalized at the expense of Armenia’s sovereignty, the viability of
its existence, or the national and state rights of future Armenian
generations.

Deeply committed to these principles, we find unacceptable and condemn
the signing, by Armenia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, of the April
22 joint statement with Turkey.

The statement comes on the eve of the commemoration, on April 24,
of the greatest tragedy of the Armenian people. The leaders of Turkey
have recently made anti-Armenian announcements in general and on the
Artsakh issue in particular, and have restated preconditions for the
normalization of relations. The release of the statement at this time
and in these circumstances is a blow to the interests of Armenia and
the Armenian people.

Noting that this process implies a negative change in the direction of
Armenia’s foreign policy, the ARF will, in the coming days, discuss the
expediency of its continued participation in the governing coalition."

The ARF Bureau’s Political Director, Giro Manoyan told RFE/RL that
party leaders plan to meet and demand explanations from Sarkisian after
he returns from a visit to Moscow. The issue is likely to be on the
agenda of Saturday’s meeting of Armenia’s National Security Council
as well. ARF Supreme Council of Armenia Chairman Armen Rustamian is
a member of that presidential body.

The ARF’s announcement came the day after the party’s top leader,
Hrant Markarian, publicly lambasted Sarkisian’s year-long diplomatic
overtures to Turkey, saying that they have seriously damaged Armenia’s
national interests. He said that Yerevan has made major concessions
to Ankara while failing to secure the lifting the of the Turkish
economic blockade of Armenia.

"When you draw up a roadmap for negotiations, you plan for a long, very
long period," said Manoyan. "This contradicts the notion that these
negotiations must be quick and productive and that they will otherwise
be meaningless," speaking to the hasty timing of the announcement.