TER-PETROSIAN BLOC TOUGHENS STANCE ON TURKEY-ARMENIA DEAL
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14.10.2009
In a clear toughening of its position, Armenia’s largest opposition
alliance has officially condemned as "immoral and inadmissible"
the signing of landmark agreements to normalize Turkish-Armenian
agreements.
The Armenian National Congress (HAK) again accused President Serzh
Sarkisian of willingly sacrificing greater international recognition
of the Armenian genocide in return for what it called false Turkish
promises to unconditionally reopen the border between the two
countries.
"No Armenian leader has ever given such big gifts to the Turkish state
and nation," Levon Zurabian, the HAK’s central office coordinator,
charged on Wednesday, presenting the bloc’s official reaction to
the weekend signing ceremony in Zurich that made headlines in the
international media.
"The signing of the Turkey-Armenia protocols is the latest unfortunate
proof of the ruling regime’s political bankruptcy and diplomatic
wretchedness," read a separate statement issued by the HAK.
The alliance led by former President Levon Ter-Petrosian again
based its criticism on a protocol clause that calls for a joint
Turkish-Armenian study of the 1915 mass killings of Armenians in the
Ottoman Empire. Like many in Armenia and its Diaspora, it believes
that the Turks would exploit the study to prevent more countries from
recognizing what many historians consider the first genocide of the
20th century.
"Even this immoral and inadmissible deal did not live up to Armenia’s
expectations," the HAK statement said, pointing to Turkish leaders’
continuing linkage between border opening and a resolution of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. It said Ankara will achieve its main
objectives even if it fails to ensure the mandatory ratification of
the protocols by the Turkish parliament.
The HAK similarly condemned the planned formation of a
Turkish-Armenian historical "sub-commission" when it reacted to the
August 31 publication of the two protocols in an early September
statement. Still, it said at the time that the documents mark
"considerable progress" towards the normalization of Turkish-Armenian
relations, something which Ter-Petrosian himself had championed during
his 1991-1998 presidency.
Ter-Petrosian stood by that statement when he addressed thousands of
supporters rallying in Yerevan on September 18. He harshly criticized
instead Sarkisian’s conciliatory policy on the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict.
In its latest statement, the HAK likewise accused Sarkisian of seeking
to make "equally unacceptable concessions" to Azerbaijan. The bloc
repeated its claims that the only way to thwart "this anti-national
process" is for Armenia’s leading political groups to form an
anti-government coalition and force Sarkisian into resignation.
Zurabian made clear that the HAK has no plans to join a newly
formed grouping of a dozen opposition parties led by the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) which was formed earlier
this month to fight against the implementation of the Turkish-Armenian
accord. He claimed that Dashnaktsutyun maintains close ties with
the government, arguing that it is still not seeking Sarkisian’s
resignation despite its harsh criticism of his policy on Turkey.
Dashnaktsutyun leaders have said that they will fight for "regime
change" in the country only if they fail to prevent the protocols’
ratification by Armenia’s parliament.