"WE CAN’T BE HOSTAGE FOREVER"

A1Plus.am
07/05/10

May 8 is Land Defender Day, but before that, "A1+" asked two questions
to head of the Land Defenders Volunteer Union, former deputy minister
of defense, General-Lieutenant Manvel Grigoryan.

"A1+": Recently, there are discussions on why people who haven’t
taken part in the war are joining the LDU. Are they trying to solve
some problem by doing that?

Manvel Grigoryan: Land defenders are the Armenian nation. They are all
those who are living in the homeland and involved in nation-building.

If you only mean those who were on the border by saying participation
in the war, there were no more than 20,000 people like that. Half of
20,000 didn’t take part in combat. They were the reserve.

But aren’t the people who were fighting for us land defenders? If
Armenians didn’t live with the slogan "Everything for the border,
the front and Artsakh", how would we win the war? How would we win
the war if citizens of Gyumri or Spitak, who had just experienced
an earthquake, were left homeless and faced social issues, left the
country and didn’t stay and make a contribution?

Those who participated in the war were those who stayed and lived
in Armenia and Artsakh during the difficult years. Aren’t the people
overseeing the border land defenders? Aren’t the veterans of the Great
Patriotic War land defenders? Aren’t the intellectuals who fought
and still fight through writing, the doctors who have cured and
cure disabled freedom fighters called land defenders? I repeat-all
Armenians are land defenders. Do you want to see LDU as merely an
organization that is fading away? Isn’t that too much for Armenia?

Do you think the war is over and that there will never be a threat
of a war? We tend to differ in opinion. We are guided by the slogan
"If you want peace, get ready for war". We believe that Armenia must
be ready for war at any second. Land defenders are the best type of
Armenians. They defend the country and live for Armenia’s problems
24 hours a day. Today we are preparing such people.

"A1+": Is your position or the position of LDU the same for the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement and the normalization of
Turkish-Armenian relations? Are you still radical?

M. G.: What else can we do? First, we are against linking both issues.

We have nothing to concede when it comes to Artsakh. The Turks started
a war against us, we imposed peace and the border that would guarantee
the security of Armenia and Artsakh and violating that is dangerous.

To lose every piece of land means to give Azerbaijan an advantage and
expand the border with Azerbaijan. That requires additional human,
financial and technical resources. As far as relations with Turkey
are concerned, we are not against normal relations, if that issue is
not linked to Karabaj and if we don’t forget the history and don’t
renounce international recognition of the Armenian Genocide, as well
as the demand for condemnation and compensation.

We can’t forgive the Turks for what they did as long as they haven’t
realized that and until they haven’t repented and begged forgiveness.

I must tell you that it is mandatory for us to match our legislation
and economic policies so that we will not suffer any losses in the
case of opening the border with Turkey. We can’t stay hostage to
Turkey’s clever diplomacy forever.
From: Baghdasarian