ARMENIA: OPPOSITION THREATENS MASS RALLIES TO THWART TURKISH DEAL

News Briefs
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9/14/09

The Armenian National Congress (ANC), Armenia’s main opposition group,
says it will launch a series of street protests on September 18 that
is designed to foil a pending reconciliation deal with Turkey.

The ANC claims that August 31 proposals that aim to foster a
rapprochement between the longtime enemies are inimical to Armenia’s
national interests, the pro-opposition A1plus news service reported
on September 14.

Accusing President Serzh Sargsyan of "selling out" to Turkey, ANC
spokesperson Levon Zurabian said his party will try to reverse the deal
via popular protests. "The [President Serzh Sargsyan’s] regime failed
to achieve its stated goal to normalize ties with Turkey without any
preconditions," Zurabian said in a statement released September 14.

The draft proposal offers to set up an "impartial scientific"
commission to look into the mass slaughter of Armenians during the
late Ottoman era. The ANC insists that the episode be classified as
genocide. Zurabian said that the August protocols, if adopted, would
likely weaken Armenia’s claim of genocide, and thus would constitute
a major diplomatic defeat for Yerevan.