Month: February 2015

NOBEL-WINNING TURKISH AUTHOR RELUCTANT TO TALK ABOUT ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

February 16, 2015 – 17:00 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Turkey’s military, which has forced out civilian
governments in the past, has been pushed to the sidelines but largely
replaced with an Islamist and authoritarian government, Turkish Nobel
laureate Orhan Pamuk said, according to Today’s Zaman.

“Authoritarian soldiers were pushed out but an authoritarian and
Islamist government took their place,” he said in an interview
with Agence France-Presse (AFP) in Istanbul, referring to Turkey’s
recent history in which military influence over politics has slowly
disappeared and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the ruling Justice
and Development Party (AK Party) have become the new center of power.

He also said that the AK Party was “destroying the balance of powers,
which is in fact the key to any democracy.”

“In that sense, Turkey is only an electoral democracy, but a democracy
where the respect for human rights, free speech are violated every
day,” said Pamuk, adding that he sensed a deterioration when he
last returned to Turkey from New York, where he teaches at Columbia
University.

“When I came back, I felt a climate of fear, people whispering,”
he told AFP.

However, Pamuk was reluctant to comment on the Armenian Genocide issue,
after his remarks in 2005 brought him death threats as well as legal
proceedings that were eventually abandoned.

“I had a lot of trouble eight to 10 years ago because I talked freely
about this subject,” Pamuk said shortly.

From: A. Papazian

‘SWISSLEAKS’: KAREKIN II’S ACCOUNT LEAKED

02.09.2015 14:19NEWS

Account data of around 100 thousand clients revealed as more details
of the leaked HSBC files emerge. The account of Karekin II, Catholicos
of All Armenians is also among the revealed accounts.

According to reports of the BBC and Le Monde, based on documents
unearthed by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists
(ICIJ), HSBC Switzerland is alleged to have assisted its wealthy
clients in tax evasion in 10 countries.

According to the documents referred to as “Swissleaks”, there are
11,235 accounts from Switzerland, 9,187 accounts from France, 8,844
accounts from England, 8,667 accounts from Brazil, 7,499 accounts
from Italy, 6,554 accounts from Israel, 4,183 accounts from the USA,
3,625 accounts from Argentina, 3,105 accounts from Turkey and 3,002
accounts from Belgium at the headquarters of the bank in Switzerland.

The Swissleaks documents were revealed through the collaborative
investigation of 157 journalists from 47 countries.

“The Catholicosate is tax exempt”

The ICIJ site has so far revealed the accounts of 64 clients from
among 100 thousand accounts. The list of accounts includes famous names
such as the Jordanian King Abdullah II, Ecuadorian politician Alvaro
Noboa, diamond trader Dan Azoumi, and Formula 1 racing driver Fernando
Alonso. One name is particularly striking: His Holiness Karekin II,
Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians. Karekin II was
first listed as a HSBC client in 2000, and his account held as much
as $1,1 million in 2006/2007. A spokesman for the Catholicosate told
ICIJ that the account in question was “opened by His Holiness Karekin
II’s predecessor for the benefit of the Church and its charities. This
account was transferred to His Holiness Karekin II Nersissian upon
the death of his predecessor to be used for the same purposes.” The
spokesman added, “The Catholicosate of the Armenian church is a
national religious institution and is not subject to any taxes”.

From: Baghdasarian

ONE KIND OF SPEECHES AND OTHER KIND OF SPEECHES

Monday, 16 February 2015 09:11

Conflicts are different, but international law is one

The UN Charter provides some principles; the right of nations to
self-determination occupies a keynote place, and the territorial
integrity and sovereignty must be respected. The Parliamentary Assembly
passed a Declaration, clarifying the ratio between the fundamental
principles of international law.

It is confirmed there that sovereignty and territorial integrity are
inviolable and that the countries, which claim to be respected, must
respect the right of the nations living in these countries and avoid
preventing the right to self-determination by the use of brute force”.

Agree, it is a wonderful quote, which could serve as a weighty concept
for the settlement of the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict, in the
process of resolution of which, first and foremost due to Azerbaijan’s
stance, two fundamental principles of the Helsinki Decalogue of 1975
– the right of nations to self-determination and the principle of
territorial integrity – are artificially clashed.Indeed, it could, but,
alas, does not serve. As a consequence, many questions occur, one of
which may sound like this: why couldn’t the abovementioned postulate,
which entirely corresponds to the classical law on international law,
which is the basis of the modern system of international security,
become the basis of the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict settlement? To
answer this question, we will not continue maintaining the intrigue
and will open the brackets.

Shrewd and experienced readers have probably guessed that the
above-cited phrase belongs to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of
the Russian Federation, Sergey Lavrov, which he voiced at the recent
International Security Conference in Munich. And he used it to parry
the accusations against Russia of the “annexation of the Crimea” and
violation of the keynote international standards. It is known that
Moscow’s position is that the secession of the Crimea from Ukraine and
its reunification with Russia took place in accordance with the UN
Charter and on the basis of a referendum, which did not take place,
for example, during the secession of Kosovo from Serbia. In fact,
from the legal point of view, Russia’s position is justified, but it
received a mixed assessment of the Munich audience, part of which
responded to the Minister’s words extremely aggressively, almost
bringing the situation to a scandal.

But the matter now isn’t, surely, the scandal and it is that this
incident became a characteristic touch to the fact that contemporary
international law is in a deep crisis and has long experienced it. The
clash of the geopolitical interests of the world centers of power,
which have been heavily struggling for a new division of the world
since the collapse of the USSR and the socialist system as a whole,
has led to the deformation of international law. This is testified,
in particular, by the fact that in the current confrontation between
Russia and the West both sides, justifying their own positions in
the dispute, appeal to the same rules and principles of international
law, interpreting them solely for their own benefit and then act in
accordance with their “own “concept. The situation is like in the
well-known proverb: “The law is like a pole, which side you turn it,
it will emerge there”. As a result, it generates the policy of double
standards, greatly complicating the solution of conflicts and leading
to new tragedies.

The abovementioned words were voiced by Sergei Lavrov in the context
of the Ukrainian vector of the Russian foreign policy activities,
but they are surely topical also in terms of the Karabakh settlement
process. Having witnessed how Sergey Lavrov zealously defended in
Munich the right of the Crimea to self-determination, the people
of Artsakh would like to know whether he intends, as the Foreign
Minister of Russia, or of a co-chair state of the OSCE Minsk Group,
to consider the resolution of the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict from
the same position. After all, Nagorno Karabakh corresponds to all the
parameters, which the Russian Foreign Minister noted in relation to
the Crimea. There was a national referendum here, especially more
than 20 years before the Crimean, at which the people determined
its own political future. There was also gross discrimination of the
rights of the indigenous Armenian population in Azerbaijan, and then,
according to Lavrov, the “prevention of the right to self-determination
by the use of brute force”, which in our case is called a large-scale
bloody war.

Surely, the question of whether Russia intends to follow its declared
principles is purely rhetorical, and it is hardly worth expecting
Moscow’s attitude to the Nagorno Karabakh issue similar to that to
the Crimea. We have a bitter experience. In 2008, after Russia’s
recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, the Russian party,
“forgetting” about its formula of universality, advised us not to
compare the Nagorno Karabakh conflict with those of Abkhazia and
South Ossetia. And we are likely to be recommended again not to
compare the Karabakh conflict with the Ukrainian.

But, here’s a curious thing – such a comparison was made there,
in Munich, by the President of Azerbaijan, actually opposing Lavrov
in absentia, having called both conflicts the “mirror images of each
other”. During the discussions on the “Unresolved conflicts in Europe,
besides Ukraine”, Aliyev, taking advantage of the situation, stated
that “the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan has the same value
as the territorial integrity of Ukraine” and started his Pharisee
reasoning about double standards.

It is more than obvious that only with a unified approach to the
principles and norms of international law and objective implementation
of the law enforcement practice we can achieve what, as Lavrov
stressed, is prescribed by the UN Charter – the right of nations to
self-determination is the priority, and the territorial integrity
and sovereignty must be respected. We would like to believe that
after overcoming the Ukrainian crisis Russia will extrapolate the
resolution of the Crimean issue to Nagorno Karabakh. Otherwise,
“empty words will not relieve the hearts” (Schiller).

Leonid MARTIROSSIAN

Editor-in-Chief of Azat Artsakh newspaper

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

THE TIME HAD COME FOR ARMENIA TO WITHDRAW THE TURKEY-ARMENIA PROTOCOLS: RUBEN SAFRASTYAN

21:17, 16 February, 2015

YEREVAN, 16 FEBRUARY, ARMENPRESS. The time had come for Armenia to
withdraw the Turkey-Armenia Protocols from the National Assembly of
the Republic of Armenia since Turkey, with its actions and denial,
proved that it’s not ready for normalization of Armenian-Turkish
relations. This is what Director of the Oriental Studies Institute
of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia,
Turkologist Ruben Safrastyan said. “The time had come, and the Turkish
authorities’ position on Armenian-Turkish relations and their denial
ahead of the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide played a huge role,”
Ruben Safrastyan said in an interview with “Armenpress”, adding
that the withdrawal was very influential and that Armenia is on the
right track. Safrastyan stressed the fact that the international
community can’t have different views because it had already set the
Turkey-Armenia Protocols aside, based on calculations.

On February 16, President of the Republic of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan
sent a letter to Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of
Armenia Galust Sahakyan informing him about his decision on withdrawing
the Armenia-Turkey Protocols from the National Assembly of the Republic
of Armenia. The letter particularly runs as follows:

“Dear Mr. Sahakyan,

We have clearly imagined all the possible options of the future
developments while beginning the process of regulation of the
Armenia-Turkey relations without preconditions. We were ready for
both the comprehensive regulation of the ties via ratification of the
protocols and the possibility of their failure, as we had nothing to
hid and it would become clear for the international community whose
fault it actually was that the last closed border of Europe was not
opened and the chance was missed.

It has been six years since the signing of the Armenia-Turkey
protocols. During this entire period Armenia has shown a consistent
standpoint in the issue of realization of the protocols.

Notwithstanding, one should mention the lack of political will of the
Turkish authorities, distortions of the protocols’ letter and spirit,
and continuously putting forward preconditions. The policy of denialism
and editing history has simultaneously received a new impetus on the
threshold of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

I have stated for a number of times that time is not endless. I
reflected on this issue in September 2014 and at the UN General
Assembly. That’s a pity that this call of Armenia fell on deaf ears
of Turkey’s leadership.

Hence, I have made a decision on withdrawing the “Protocol on the
Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between the Republic of Armenia
and the Republic of Turkey” and “Protocol on Development of Relations
between the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Turkey” from the
National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia” signed in Zurich on
October 10, 2009.”

KAREN GRIGORYAN PRESENTED SPEAKER OF THE COUNCIL OF REPRESENTATIVES OF IRAQ WITH THE LIST OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE CENTENNIAL COMMEMORATION EVENTS

20:46, 16 February, 2015

BAGHDAD, 16 FEBRUARY, ARMENPRESS. Ambassador of the Republic of
Armenia to Iraq Karen Grigoryan met on February 16 with Speaker of
the Council of Representatives of Iraq Salim al-Jabouri and discussed
issues on the Armenian-Iraqi agenda. As the Department of Press,
Information and Public Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
of the Republic of Armenia reports to “Armenpress”, underlining
the role of inter-parliamentary relations in the development of
bilateral relations, the Speaker of the Council of Representatives
of Iraq and Ambassador Grigoryan touched upon the reciprocal visits
of parliamentary delegations and the activities of the parliamentary
friendship groups.

During the meeting, Ambassador Grigoryan presented the list of events
dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

Ambassador Grigoryan also had a meeting with Chairman of the Foreign
Relations Committee of the Council of Representatives of Iraq Hassan
al-Hamdani.

From: A. Papazian

THE NEXT STEP IS TO TAKE BACK ARMENIA’S SIGNATURE FROM THE PROTOCOLS

19:15, 16 February, 2015

YEREVAN, 16 FEBRUARY, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian Revolutionary
Federation-Dashnaktsutyun believes President of the Republic of Armenia
Serzh Sargsyan did the right thing by withdrawing the Turkey-Armenia
Protocols from the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia. At
the same time, the Dashnaktsutyun believes Armenia has to go all the
way and take back its signature from the Protocols as well.

In an interview with “Armenpress”, representative of the ARF-D Bureau
for the Armenian Cause and Political Affairs Kiro Manoyan mentioned
the following: “The Dashnaktsutyun was against the Turkey-Armenia
Protocols from the very first day, and after it became clear that
Turkey didn’t want to establish relations with Armenia without
preconditions, we urged the President to take back his signature from
the Protocols. Withdrawing the Protocols from the National Assembly
is commendable, but not sufficient since the justifications presented
in the President’s letters were suffice for Armenia to take back its
signature from the Protocols as well. It’s the right step, but the
President has to go all the way,” Kiro Manoyan emphasized.

The Social Democrat Hunchakian Party (SDHP) also positively assesses
the President’s initiative to withdraw the Turkey-Armenia Protocols
from the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia. Chairman of
the SDHP Narek Galstyan emphasized that what’s especially important
is the fact that this is happening on the threshold of the 100th
anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. “The SDHP has criticized the
Armenian-Turkish Protocols several times. We believe the initial
signing of the Protocols in Zurich was a step back. Over the past
six years, we have had many occasions to call on withdrawing the
Turkey-Armenia Protocols when the official Ankara showed that it’s
not ready and doesn’t want to melt the ice in the Armenian-Turkish
relations in any way. Thus, we positively assess Serzh Sargsyan’s
initiative, which is commendable as it is ahead of the 100thanniversary
of the Armenian Genocide,” Narek Galstyan said.

PASSIONS RISING OVER DRAFT STATEMENT “ON CONDEMNATION OF THE GENOCIDE OF GREEKS AND ASSYRIANS IN OTTOMAN TURKEY” IN ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT

by Tatevik Shahunyan

Monday, February 16, 18:39

Passions are rising over the draft statement “On condemnation of the
genocide of Greeks and Assyrians in Ottoman Turkey” in the Armenian
Parliament.

Today, a verbal duel occurred between Heritage MP Zaruhi Postanjyan
and Head of the Parliamentary Commission for Foreign Affairs, RPA
member Artak Zakaryan during the Commission’s session, which was
considering the draft statement. In particular, Postanjyan expressed
her discontent with the fact that the lawmakers did not support her
draft statement “On recognition and condemnation of Ottoman Turkey’s
genocidal policy against Greeks, Assyrians, Yazidis and other national
and religious minorities as a grave crime against humanity”. She
blamed the RPA members for plagiarism, because “they have stolen
her idea and elaborated their own document on its basis”. Postanjyan
was particularly indignant at the fact that the new version of the
statement says nothing about the genocide of Yazidis.

Today the “Sinjar” Yazidi National Union protested against the Armenian
National Assembly’s draft statement condemning the genocide of Greeks
and Assyrians in Ottoman Turkey in 1914-23.

Sinjar is displeased with the fact that the document does not mention
the genocide of Yazidis that took place in the early 20th century
in Ottoman Turkey. “Only 14,000 out of 200,000 families of the
Yazidis living in the Ottoman Empire before 1914 survived. Later,
the persecution against the Yazidis continued because they were
blamed for hiding Armenian refugees in their houses. Why does the
legislative body of Armenia forget these facts? Is the fact of
the genocide of Yazidis disadvantageous from the viewpoint of the
Armenian foreign policy?” In this light, Sinjar urges the authors
of the draft statement “On condemnation of the genocide of Greeks
and Assyrians in Ottoman Turkey in 1914-23” to include a provision
about the genocide of Yazidis in the document. “Otherwise, we will
perceive it as discrimination against Yazidi people”, they say.

ArmInfo’s correspondent has asked Eduard Sharmazanov, Vice Speaker of
the Armenian Parliament, co- author of the specified draft statement
to comment on the Yazidi organization’s statement. Sharmazanov
says that the genocide of Armenians, Greeks and Assyrians in
Ottoman Turkey cannot be considered emotionally. According to him,
when elaborating the document, its authors studied all the facts,
the relevant Convention of the UN, the resolution the International
Association of Genocide Scholars took in 2007. The resolution says
that a genocide of Armenians, Greeks and Assyrians was committed in
Ottoman Turkey in the early 20th century and it features numerous
facts, particularly, the documents of the Thessalonica Forum and
letters of Taleat and Enver.

“The same International Association of Genocide Scholars considered in
2007 the issue of possible genocide of Yazidis in Ottoman Turkey in
early XX century but found no documents substantiating it. If there
are any facts confirming the genocide of Yazidis in Ottoman Turkey
in early XX century, let the Yazidi community present them and we
will recognize and condemn the genocide of Yazidis as well. I have
repeatedly applied to the Yazidi community, however, I have received
no such documents so far”, says Sharmazanov. He stresses that if
the Parliament adopts a resolution, it should be substantiated and
flawless in all aspects. He adds that in 2015 Yerevan will host the
forum of the International Association of Genocide Scholars and if
the Yazidi community has some documents confirming the fact of the
genocide of Yazidis in Ottoman Turkey in early XX century, it can
present them at that Forum.

To note, earlier MP from Heritage Party Zaruhi Postanjyan submitted a
similar draft statement, which reflected on the genocide of Yazidis
as well and the Yazidi community of Armenia supported that draft
statement. However, the MPs from the ruling Republican Party of
Armenia said that the document had inaccuracies and rejected it.

MARIO BALOTELLI: LIVERPOOL STRIKER SPARS WITH PROFESSIONAL KICK-BOXER ON TRAIN – WATCH

His feared opponent has a pro record of 77 wins from 82 fights

JAMES ORR

Monday 16 February 2015

Have you ever wondered what Liverpool striker Mario Balotelli does
on a train journey?

He spars with a professional kick-boxer of course.

Balotelli uploaded this video to his Instagram account over the
weekend, of him sparring with Giorgio Petrosyan, the Armenian-Italian
kick-boxer with a record of 77 wins from 82 fights.

The video was uploaded the day after Valentine’s Day, the previous
day Liverpool defeated Crystal Palace 2-1 in an FA Cup fifth-round
tie at Selhurst Park, but for Balotelli it was more of glovely weekend
than a lovely one it seems.

WATCH: BALOTELLI SPARS ON A TRAIN

MAYOR OF 11TH ARRONDISSEMENT: MARCEL RAJMAN’S SACRIFICE IS PARTICULARLY SIGNIFICANT IN TODAY’S CONTEXT; COMPATRIOT: MANY OF US JEWS PARTICIPATED IN RESISTANCE, BUT “PEOPLE TEND TO FORGET.”

By RINA BASSIST
02/16/2015 21:17

NAZI HUNTER Serge Klarsfeld (right), resistance veteran Roger
Fichtenberg (center) and sculptor Denis Chetboun stand next to the
newly inaugurated statue of Marcel Rajman in Paris on Sunday.. (photo
credit:RINA BASSIST)

PARIS – Politicians, resistance veterans, Communist Party activists,
Jewish leaders and residents of Paris’s 11th Arrondissement gathered
on Sunday morning at a little city garden, not far from the Leon
Blum square. The veterans were wearing their medals and berets,
holding up flags.

They came to honor their friend, Marcel Rajman, executed by the
Germans in February 1944, together with 22 other resistance members.

The little garden was named after Rajman several years ago, but
on this gray winter morning his comrades came to unveil a statue;
inspired by his image on the last day of his life.

“When we came here last year, at the annual commemoration ceremony,
I felt that this place needed not only a name, but also a face, an
image. I vowed, in the name of all of us, sons and daughters of the
deportees, to bring the face of our friend, Marcel, back to his home
neighborhood, to bring back his soul.

One of us, who wished to stay anonymous, made a donation, and here we
are today, honoring not only Marcel Rajman, but all those who fought
with him,” Nazi hunter Serge Klarsfeld told The Jerusalem Post.

Rajman was one of the foreigners who tied their fate with their new
homeland; Armenians, Polish, Italians and Spanish who immigrated to
France in the early 30s and joined the French resistance, when Paris
was occupied by the German army.

There, foreigners formed up a group of their own which was named
after its leader, Armenian poet Missak Manouchian. Most of them were
young communists.

Marcel Rajman and his Polish Jewish friends initiated several audacious
and spectacular attacks against the Germans.

They attempted to assassinate the German governor of Paris, but the
attack failed. An attempt to kill another high ranking German officer,
however, succeeded.

In mid-November 1943 the French police arrested 23 members of the
communist labor movement network (FTP-MOI). The resistance members
were tortured, then put on trial by a German military court. The Nazis
turned the trial into a media circus, inviting French celebrities and
others to watch it. At the end, a firing squad executed 22 members
at Fort Mont Valerien.

The 23rd member, Olga Bancic, was later beheaded in Stuttgart.

Leon Felman, 90, one of the flag bearers, knew Marcel Rajman
personally. “His family lived at the Rue des Immeubles Industriels,
near Place de la Nation. They were poor Polish immigrants who made
their living by knitting.

When Marcel’s father was arrested, Marcel, together with his younger
brother, Simon, joined the resistance, but only Simon survived the
war. I myself also joined the resistance. I was 17 and managed to flee
the French gendarmerie when they rounded up our family. My mother told
me to run, so I ran. There were many of us Jews who participated in
the resistance, but people tend to forget that.”

Felman was decorated for his bravery with the highest French
decoration; officer of the Legion d’Honneur.

Catherine Vieu-Charier, who represented Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo at
the ceremony, told the Post that there was much symbolism to the
inauguration of the status this year in particular, a month after
the terrorist attacks in Paris.

“We are honoring Polish Jews, foreigners, who sacrificed themselves
for France, against barbarism… The world expressed solidarity
with us when human dignity and freedom were threatened here, when
anti-Semitism came back to the forefront. This anti-Semitism, has
never left French soil. The victims were not chosen haphazardly;
journalists, police officers, Jews. All of them representing the
diversity of France and its values.”

The mayor of the 11th Paris Arrondissement, Francois Vauglin, also
linked Rajman’s story to recent events.

“The sacrifice of Marcel Rajman and his friends is particularly
significant and strong in today’s context, with the massacres at
Hyper Cacher and Charlie Hebdo and the terrible attack yesterday in
Copenhagen. And also when we recall the words of hate pronounced
at a theater in this very neighborhood not long ago [a reference
to the show of French comedian Dieudonne M’bala M’bala, recently
condemned for incitement]. We must remember that words and actions
are interrelated. Words of hate will be followed by actions, and this
is the lesson we must learn and the reality we must confront.”

Denis Chetboun, the sculptor who created the statue of Rajman, said
that he considered the commission a sacred one.

“I started working on the statue last year at my new Tel Aviv studio.

I made aliya at that very same time. I feel that my statue of Marcel
Rajman in effect closes the circle. For his image to be eternalized
in Israel specifically, might be Marcel Rajman’s greatest victory.”

RPA: INSTEAD OF COMING FORWARD WITH IRENIC STATEMENTS NOW, KOCHARYAN HAD TO THINK ABOUT IT EARLIER

by Tatevik Shahunyan

Monday, February 16, 22:51

Instead of coming forward with irenic statements now, the second
president of Armenia Robert Kocharyan had to think about it earlier
and not to lead the situation to such an extent, the head of the
RPA faction, Vahram Bagdasaryan, told Arminfo correspondent when
commenting on today’s statement by Kocharyan regarding the domestic
political situation in Armenia.

‘They had to think about it earlier and not to push that man (the
leader of the PAP Gagik Tsarukyan edt.) towards the big politics,
as he did not have such intentions and did not want to become a
radical oppositionist. First,they made of him an “alternative”,
then an oppositionist, and now they suggest us not to do anything
and allow Tsarukyan to do what he wants and try to implement coup
through rallies, don’t they?”, – Bagdasaryan said.

He also emphasized that the RPA has been always trying to establish
the relations with Tsarukyan via the dialogue. “He seemed to be ready
to the dialogue, but his advisers have directed him to the other way”,
– he said.

To recall, the Armenian authorities still have resources to stop
radical processes in the political life of the country through
abandoning of any active administrative actions against the leader of
Prosperous Armenia Party, Gagik Tsarukyan and returning to the field
of political confrontation with opponents, the second president of
Armenia, Robert Kocharyan, said in an interview with the 2rd.am portal,
when touching on confrontation between the Prosperous Armenia Party
and Republican Party of Armenia after the RPA session, when President
Serzh Sargsyan sharply criticized the PAP leader Gagik Tsarukyan.

Commenting on the internal political developments of recent days,
Kocharyan, in particular, said: “I cannot explain why the president
needed that. If the calculation was that pressure on the Prosperous
Armenia Party (PAP) leader Gagik Tsarukyan will disintegrate the
PAP, then this effect has not been achieved. On the contrary, there
are clear signs of consolidation in the opposition field, a sharp
radicalization of vocabulary and objectives.”

Kocharyan described the arguments of President Serzh Sargsyan voiced
in his February 12 speech as “unconvincing”. “Any action against the
PAP leader will be now regarded by everyone as political persecution,
which lacks any legitimacy. And taking into account the degree of
social tensions and discontent in the country, as well as the PAP’s
and its leader’s wide popularity, the more vigorously the government
tries to “clean up” the political field, the stronger will be the
consolidation against the government and the more so real will be the
prospect of political upheavals. It is not hard to predict how this
all will affect the economy, the situation on the Line of Contact in
Karabakh and the holding of events marking the 100th anniversary of
the Genocide,” Kocharyan said.

Answering the website’s question on whether the government has a
way-out of this situation, the former president said. “I think it
still has. To stop and not to take any administrative action against
the PAP leader, to remain solely within the limits of a verbal duel,
to return to the political dimension of dealing with opponents.”

Kocharyan also expressed the opinion that the intentions expressed
at the ruling Republican Party council meeting “do not fit into the
framework of the Constitution” and “the PAP and the opposition are
literally forced to organize mass street actions, the consequences
of which are unpredictable.”

“Our country is already overloaded with serious problems and their
solution is possible only through the greatest possible consolidation
of society, on the basis of restoring people’s faith in the future
of the country.

What has happened, unfortunately, has become a strong signal in the
opposite direction,” said Kocharyan.