DASHNAKS RESUME PROTESTS AGAINST TURKISH-ARMENIAN DEAL
Tatevik Lazarian, Ruzanna Stepanian

RFE/RL
11.01.2010

Armenia — Supporters of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation
demonstrate in Yerevan against Turkish-Armenian agreements on January
11, 2009.

The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) rallied
more than a thousand supporters in Yerevan on Monday to demand that
Armenia’s Constitutional Court invalidate the fence-mending agreements
with Turkey.

The court is scheduled to open hearings Tuesday on the agreements’
conformity with the Armenian constitution. A positive ruling is a
necessary condition for their discussion and ratification by the
National Assembly.

Dashnaktsutyun leaders reiterated their strong condemnation of the two
Turkish-Armenian protocols before the protesters, many of them holding
torches and banners, marched to the court building in the city center.

A nine-page petition handed by them to the court demands that the
protocols be declared at least "partly unconstitutional."

Armen Rustamian, a Dashnaktsutyun leader, said that would be a
face-saving solution for a government that has been facing strong
domestic and Armenian Diaspora criticism of its policy of rapprochement
with Armenia’s historical foe. "If they don’t opt for this solution,
it will mean that a conspiracy is hatched behind the Armenian people’s
back," he told the crowd at a brief rally that preceded the march.

"We should help the authorities," one woman told RFE/RL. "If the
people demonstrate their opposition [to the agreements] they will
help the authorities cope with external pressure."

"We want to express our protest to our government against this
atmosphere, this national split and to get our message across,"
said another protester.

Rustamian again warned that Dashnaktsutyun will consider "regime
change" a key objective if President Serzh Sarkisian succeeds in
putting the controversial agreements into practice. The nationalist
party, which was represented in Sarkisian’s coalition cabinet until
last April, has until now been careful not to demand his resignation.

Dashnaktsutyun confirmed late last month that at least one of its
leaders, Vahan Hovannisian, has met with the Constitutional Court
chairman, Gagik Harutiunian, to discuss the upcoming court hearings.

Rustamian insisted then that the meeting was not secret and did
not signify continuing cooperation between Dashnaktsutyun and the
government.