DASHNAKS AGAIN THREATEN ‘REGIME CHANGE’
Ruzanna Stepanian

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13.01.2010

Armenia — Armen Rustamian, a leader of the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation, addresses a rally in Yerevan on January 11, 2010.

The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) will strive
to depose President Serzh Sarkisian if his fence-mending agreements
with Turkey are unconditionally ratified by Armenia’s parliament,
a leader of the nationalist opposition party said on Wednesday.

The warning came the day after the Constitutional Court upheld the
legality of the two protocols on the normalization of Turkish-Armenian
relations that have been strongly condemned by Dashnaktsutyun.

In a statement circulated on Wednesday, the party, which was for
years represented in Armenia’s governments, criticized the ruling,
while stressing the importance of some of its passages interpreting
the protocols’ implications.

The Constitutional Court indicated that the documents can not have any
bearing on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict or inhibit Armenia’s pursuit
of greater international recognition of the Armenian genocide. It
specifically mentions the 1990 Armenian declaration of independence
from the Soviet Union that refers to the "genocide of Armenians in
Ottoman Turkey and Western Armenia."

Dashnaktsutyun interpreted this as a de facto invalidation of a
protocol provision that commits Armenia to unequivocally recognizing
its existing border with Turkey, something which is strongly opposed
by Armenian nationalist critics of the deal. "The question of borders
remains open," claimed its statement.

The statement added that the Sarkisian administration must incorporate
the Constitutional Court comments into the protocols in the form of
"reservations" when it submits them to the National Assembly for
ratification. Armen Rustamian, the de facto head of Dashnaktsutyun’s
governing body in Armenia, said the pan-Armenian party will launch
"a process of regime change" if Sarkisian refuses to do that. It is
already trying to drum up "serious public support" for that effort,
he said.

"If the people of Armenia, the society do not accept these concerns we
will remain alone," Rustamian told a news conference. "But I am sure
this is such an issue that our people, understanding the essence,
nature and purpose of regime change, will support this process and
taking that step will be increasingly easier than it was yesterday."

Just how popular Dashnaktsutyun is at present is not clear. Its
candidate, Vahan Hovannisian, won only 6.2 percent of the vote in
the February 2008 presidential election, according to official vote
results. The party also fared poorly in last year’s municipal elections
in Yerevan, failing to win any seats in the city council.