"WHY DO YOU DEPRIVE US FROM OUR HOMELAND?"

/09/30/minas-hairapetyan
01:23 pm | September 30, 2009 | Politics

Iranian Armenian Minas Hairapetian visits Yerevan quite frequently.

"Armenia is my Homeland and I can fully exercise my rights here,"
he says.

Minas Hairapetian sees numerous insulting elements in the statements
over the pre-signed Armenian-Turkish Protocols and Armenian-Turkish
relations.

"Today even Erdogan speaks about the Armenian Diaspora. Some Armenians
also think the Genocide issue should be resolved by the Diaspora. I
am ready to swear that the whole Armenian nation will be endangered
provided that the Armenian-Turkish border is reopened," the Iranian
Armenian said to A1+.

Minas Hairapetian doesn’t share the wide-spread opinion that Turkey
is not the direct successor of the Osmanian Empire, hence the country
mustn’t shoulder responsibility for the 1915 massacres.

"I wonder how people can neglect the historic past. Armenians were
slaughtered in broad daylight in peaceful conditions. How can we
trust Turkey today? How would the countries appealing Armenia to
better relations with Turkey behave if they were in our shoes? I am
against the frontier opening. They have put the Karabakh issue in
the core of the relations and speak about territorial surrender."

I get offended whenever I hear people say "Diaspora has nothing else to
give to Armenia." I have worked in oil industry all my life and today
I spend the money I have earned in Armenia which is also the homeland
of Diaspora Armenian. Why do you deprive us from our homeland?" says
pensioner Minas Hairapetian.