NATIONAL NEOCONSERVATIVE MOVEMENT TO STAGE PROTEST IN DEFENCE OF COUNCIL OF NGOS OF SAMTSKHE-JAVAKHK AND KVEMO KARTLI

NOYAN TAPAN
APRIL 19, 2010
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, APRIL 19, NOYAN TAPAN. The National Neoconservative Movement
calls on political forces and NGOs to stage a protest on April 20 –
in defence of the Council of NGOs of Samtskhe-Javakhk and Kvemo Kartli.

The leader of the movement Edward Apramian said at the April 19
press conference that the Council, which intends to run in the local
government elections to be held in Georgia in late May, is the only
political force representing the interests of the Georgian Armenians.

However, according to E. Apramian, Georgian authorities will do
everything to forbid the Council from participating in the election
campaign. "The Georgian authorities have created such a situation
that the Armenian activists are in prisons, and these authorities
also prevent young activists from further developing," the movement
leader stated.

In response to the question about whether Georgia will toughen
its policy on Georgian Armenians if a wave of protests rises in
Armenia, E. Apramian replied that the Georgians use tough, even rude
methods, taking advantage of the indifference and silence of Armenian
authorities, and not because of the protests staged. In his words,
Armenia should specify its posture on Armenian-Georgian relations by
laying stress on its national interests.

When the reporters reminded him about the words of an Armenian
political figure who said that it is necessary to separate the national
interests from the state ones and that the problem of Javakhk is a
national but not a state problem, E. Apramian noted that this approach
is a result of illiteracy. In his words, no other country separates
its national and state interests. "If this is so, then the Karabakh
problem is not among our state interests: let’s surrender it and
finish our work," he said.