JIRAYR SEFILYAN: "POLITICS IS THE REASON WHY THEY KEEP DENYING ME CITIZENSHIP"
Sona Avagyan
s ociety politics
2010/02/11
Jirayr Sefilyan reflected today on repeated failed attempts to receive
RoA citizenship and stated that former President Kocharyan refused him
twice and current President Sargsyan refused him once. Mr. Sefilyan,
by law, had to wait one year after his last refusal before applying
for citizenship once again.
That one year recently expired and Mr. Sefilyan’s lawyer went to
inquire about reapplying for citizenship. It now appears that another
impediment has surfaced that will not even allow Mr. Sefilyan from
filing citizenship application papers.
"I applied a few days after being released from jail. Several months
passed until I received the refusal and by that time I had to legally
register as a resident in Armenia and applied for a special status
10 year passport granted to foreign citizens. I was refused this
document as well. I was forced to apply for a one year extension
of my residency status and this too was denied. Thus, from a legal
standpoint, I reside in Armenia illegally. This has been the case
for the past 8-9 years. To my amazement, the authorities now tell me
that I can apply for citizenship when my residency status has been
rectified," said Mr. Sefilyan.
The Karabakh war veteran and member of the Sardarapat Initiative said
that politics were why he hasn’t been granted Armenian citizenship
and that the manipulations by the government merely show just how
far we have strayed from our national ideals of uniting the Armenian
people on what remains of the Armenian homeland.
"The main thing right now is that I am here and will stay here. It’s
no wonder that I haven’t left for the past ten years. They’d never let
me back in if I did leave," Sefilyan said at today’s press conference.
Mr. Sefilyan said that he wasn’t preparing to take his case to
the European Court if his citizenship issue wasn’t resolved by the
Armenian authorities.