ARMEN ASHOTYAN: ARF TRYING TO GET RID OF THE IMAGE OF A RULING PARTY
Karen Ghazaryan

"Radiolur"
27.04.2009 15:23

ARF Dashnaktsutyun has declared today that it is going to withdraw from
the coalition. Two hours prior to the statement MP from the Republican
Party, Armen Ashotyan, spoke about ARF as former partner. Speaking
about the opportunities of withdrawal from the opposition, the
Republican MP assessed the recent developments in the Armenian-Turkish
relations as a cause rather than a deep principled reason. According
to him, some justifications are beneath criticism.

According to Armen Ashotyan, Dashnaktsutyun associates its approaches
with three behind-the-scenes issues. "The first one is the so-called
pressure from the Diaspora," Ashotyan said, adding that it is a result
of misinformation about the Armenian-Turkish relations. "ARF either
did not want or did not manage to inform and elucidate the Diaspora,"
the MP said.

On several occasions Dashnaktsutyun has threatened to withdraw from
the coalition. According to Armen Ashotyan, "ARF is trying to withdraw
from the coalition in order to try to get rid of the image of a ruling
party and participate in the elections of 2012 as an opposition force"
and the recent developments in the Armenian-Turkish relations were
a good occasion.