Author: Badalian Vardan

TURKEY’S OPTIONS IN SYRIA: STABLE KURDISH SELF-RULE OR JIHADIST ENCLAVE?

By YEREVAN SAEED

Rudaw
July 25 2013

Turkey’a unease over armed Kurdish fighters just across the border
in Syria has been turning into alarm, especially after the Kurdish
People’s Defense Units (YPG) recently routed the radical Islamic
Jabhat al-Nusrah in Serekaniye, and recaptured the Kurdish border town.

Hours after the fierce fighting for Serekaniye (also known as Ras
al-Ayn), YPG fighters showed reporters passports seized from Islamist
guerrillas, noting they had traveled through Turkish airports on
different passports, including American and of several Arab countries.

It goes without saying that, from the beginning of the Syrian uprising
more than two years ago, Turkey’s Islamist government — the Justice
and Development Party (AKP) — has facilitated the arrival of jihadist
fighters from across the Muslim world, and supplied them with weapons
and field hospitals.

Turkey’s unease turned to alarm on July 19, when officials of the
dominant but controversial Democratic Union Party (PYD) announced
their intention of declaring autonomy.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmed Davutoglu immediately reacted, saying:
“It’s not possible to accept any de facto declaration of an autonomous
entity in Syria, and that could only lead to further crisis.”

On the other hand, since the Kurdish fighters have been gaining
strength in Syria in the face of Arab rebels, the Turkish army has
been building up its presence with heavy weaponry at the border. Its
unmanned drones scan the area.

This is not the first time Turkey reacts to events in the
PYD-controlled areas of Syria.

Ankara is deeply suspicious over the PYD’s close ties to the militant
and outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in Turkey. The PYD is
accused of surreptitious ties with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s
regime and holds sway over most of Syria’s Kurdish regions.

Turkey has already warned that, although it did not react when Iraqi
Kurds declared autonomy, Ankara would not just stand by if Syrian
Kurds made a similar bid.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told journalists in
December that, “Should a similar development take place (in Syria),
we would react differently than how we did in the case of Iraq.”

Though the Turkish military has beefed up border forces and gone on
alert in response to Kurdish developments in Syria, it did not react
similarly when fighters of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and Al-Qaeda
affiliates controlled the area until several weeks ago.

It is important to ask if Turkey’s fears of an autonomous Kurdish
region in Syria are really justified. Is it Turkey that poses a threat
to Syrian stability, or is it a Kurdish free enclave that threatens
the region?

The 20-year history and experience of Iraqi Kurdistan testifies that
an autonomous Kurdish region is not a threat to any of its neighbors.

On the contrary, it can be a stabilizing factor in the region.

Initially Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria were apprehensive of Iraqi
Kurdistan’s self-rule. But now proven wrong, they should weigh
twice their suspicions about the Syrian Kurds and their ambitions
for autonomy.

If Kurds run their eastern areas in Syria, the world will have one
less jihadist enclave to worry about.

A stable Syrian Kurdistan could also give Turkey great economic
opportunities. It would be yet another market for Turkish exports.

Approximately 60 percent of Syria’s oil is located in the Kurdish
areas. Ankara can access these fields in the future, the same way it
is doing in Iraqi Kurdistan.

At this time, it would be wiser if Syria’s Kurds did not defer to
Turkish fears and continue to keep jihadist fighters at bay. Turkey’s
threats to cross the border militarily could well be nothing but
a bluff.

A second course of action would be to engage Ankara diplomatically and
reassure the Turks that a Kurdish entity will not endanger Turkey’s
national security or economic interests.

PYD leader Salih Muslim has already made some conciliatory statements
to Turkey. But he could do more. He could tell the Turks of the future
plans of the Kurds across the border.

On the other hand, leaders of Iraqi Kurdistan can and should mediate
between PYD and Ankara, to ensure that the two sides do not go to war.

Yerevan Saeed is a graduate of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy
in Boston. He is a regular commentator on Kurdish and Middle East
affairs in the international media.

ARMENIA DROPS GRAFT PROBE INTO EX-MINISTER

Agence France Presse
July 24, 2013 Wednesday 10:55 AM GMT

YEREVAN, July 24 2013

Armenian security services said Wednesday that they had dropped a
graft probe into an ex-foreign minister after he paid back taxes to
settle a case he dismissed as politically motivated.

The national security service said it had ended its year-long
investigation into money laundering involving the Civilitas Foundation
think tank of Vartan Oskanian, a former loyalist-turned-critic of
the ruling party, after he agreed to pay almost $50,000 on lesser
charges of non-payment of taxes.

“Taking into account the payment of outstanding debts, the
investigative organ has decided to stop the criminal investigation,”
the security service said in a statement.

Oskanian served as foreign minister from 1998 to 2008 but stood
as a candidate in parliamentary elections last year for Prosperous
Armenia, a party led by a super-rich former arm wrestling champion
which refused to rejoin the governing coalition after the polls.

President Serzh Sarkisian’s governing Republican party won a majority
of seats in the legislature and Sarkisian himself secured reelection
as president with a thumping victory at polls in February.

Despite saying the vote was an improvement on previous polls,
observers criticised the elections in the former Soviet state for
lacking genuine competition after a string of prominent opponents
refused to challenge Sarkisian.

mkh-del/sjw/mfp

ARMENIA AND EU AGREE TO CREATE FREE TRADE AREA

ITAR-TASS, Russia
July 24, 2013 Wednesday 08:04 PM GMT+4

YEREVAN July 24

– Armenia and the European Union have concluded their talks on Deep
and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA), as part of the Association
Agreement between them.

The final, seventh, round of talks took place in Yerevan on Wednesday,
July 24. The sides agreed key aspects of the agreement that will
set a new framework for trade relations between Armenia and the
European Union.

The DCFTA will strengthen Armenia’s economic integration with the EU
by providing better market access for European and Armenian goods and
services to each other’s markets. It will offer Armenia a framework
for modernising its trade relations and for economic development
on the basis of far reaching harmonisation of laws and regulations
in various trade-related sectors. These reforms will create the
conditions for Armenia to bring key sectors of its economy in line
with EU standards. The improved trade opportunities brought about
by the DCFTA are expected to bring economic benefits to both the EU
and Armenia.

“Today’s conclusion of negotiations on a Deep and Comprehensive Free
Trade Area between the EU and Armenia paves the way for Armenia to
enjoy much improved access to the EU market in more than trade in
goods, which will help the country strengthen its exports, increase
investment and sustain growth,” EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht
said. “In the end, it will contribute to the overall stability and
prosperity of the region, and contribute to citizen’s well-being. I
congratulate and thank the negotiators on both sides for their
successful work. I look forward to a political confirmation of this
week’s achievement at the Vilnius Summit in November this year. We
will need to actively prepare for implementation.”

An independent study suggests that in the long run the Armenian
economy could gain an extra 146 million euros a year, representing a
2.3 percent increase in GDP. Removing non-tariff measures is key to
realising these benefits. For its part, the EU is expected to gain
by some 74 million euros.

The DCFTA will have significant impacts on Armenia’s trade. The
forecast 15.2 percent increase in Armenian exports and 8.2 percent
increase in its imports in the long run will lead improve Armenia’s
trade balance in relative terms.

The EU began negotiating an Association Agreement with Armenia in
July 2010. The aim was to replace the old Partnership and Cooperation
Agreement with a more advanced relationship. The negotiations on
the trade part of this agreement – the Deep and Comprehensive Free
Trade Area (DCFTA) – were launched in May 2012. After seven rounds
of negotiations, final agreement was reached on 24 July 2013. The
Commission will now report to the EU Member States on the negotiated
DCFTA text. After that, the EU and Armenia will carry out the next
steps to formally mark the finalisation of the DCFTA as part of the
Association Agreement.

The EU is Armenia’s biggest trading partner, covering some 32 percent
of its trade. Bilateral trade in goods amounted to 951million euros
in 2012.

The country already benefits from preferential access to the EU market
through the EU Generalised System of Preferences with additional
incentives for sustainable development and good governance (“GSP+”).

This means that existing import duties are already very low, so the
benefits of the DCFTA, although they also include tariff reductions,
will lie predominantly behind the border. Regulatory reform will focus
on areas such as sanitary and phytosanitary issues, aiming to bring
food safety standards in Armenia up to a par with those in the EU.

Armenia will also adapt various laws relating to industrial goods,
with an emphasis on domestic safety and consumer protection.

THE ALLURE OF THE ARMENIAN APRICOT

Mashallah News, Lebanon
July 22 2013

Yerevan
Liana Aghajanian

I woke up in the middle of a sweltering summer one morning in Armenia
two years ago, went to the market, reached into my shopping bag on
the way back to my apartment, plucked out a ripe apricot and felt the
world stop when I bit into it. I could taste the earth it was grown
in, the water its roots had drank to flourish and the love that had
cultivated it in the vast plains of the Araratian valley. Before I
reached my door, I had more pits in my plastic bag than actual fruit.

This routine continued for an entire summer until apricot season
had ended. On one particularly hot, meandering day, the pits of that
summer’s stock, all of which were meticulously saved, were fashioned
into the shape of a very large apricot – a symbolic, stylish ceremony
displaying all the apricots consumed and enjoyed by laying them out
one by one on a table in a remodeled Soviet-era apartment in Yerevan,
Armenia’s capital.

Ask anyone in Armenia – be it diasporan, repatriate, life long
resident or tourist – where to find the best apricots in the world
and sure enough the only answer you’ll receive is, “here”, within
the borders of this mountainous, landlocked country nestled between
Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Iran.

It’s not bias, but more or less fact, as even the fruit’s scientific,
Latin, name – “Prunus Armeniaca” – suggests its origins are tied to
Armenia. An archaeological excavation found apricot seeds in a Copper
Age site and scholars often suggest that Alexander the Great brought
apricots from Armenia to Greece, introducing it to the Mediterranean
country.

But other theories dismiss Armenia’s claim to the apricot,
citing places like India and China as its native land. Despite the
disagreements over origin, its cultivation for eons in Armenia has
solidified its status in the country. The apricot tree’s wood is used
to make the duduk, an ancient Armenian woodwind instrument central
to folk music, and the orange in Armenia’s tri-colored flag is often
referred to as “apricot”. In neighboring Nagorno-Karabakh – a defacto
republic still reeling from the impact of a deadly war between Armenia
and Azerbaijan, you’ll find homemade apricot vodka so potent, just
one shot will be enough to blur the lines between dream and reality.

Indeed, there is not an apricot in the world that tastes like the
ones found in Armenia. It is more than just a piece of fruit – the
weight of a country and a diaspora’s national psyche, with equal
parts tragedy and nostalgia, rests on its shoulders.

Scattered across the world by the horrors of a genocide at the turn of
the 20th century, the Armenian Diaspora’s feet have always been on the
move, planted elsewhere by accident and circumstance, but constantly
pulled back by the heavy gravitational force of Armenia. As immigrants
in faraway lands struggling with a collective, passed down trauma and
relishing in the nostalgic notions of homeland – a place kept neatly
framed in scenic oil paintings hung on walls from Beirut to Boston,
there is an intense longing for home, a place to feel grounded and
whole in again, a place where an apricot can be so delicious, that
no other apricot found in any other corner of the world will do.

The feeling can only be described in words that have no direct
English translation. One of them is the Portuguese “Saudade”, a deeply
melancholic state for the absence of something or someone. The other
is a Welsh word, “Hiraeth”, defined by the University of Wales Trinity
Saint David as “homesickness tinged with grief or sadness over the
lost or departed.”

Forever homesick, Armenians are always searching for that fulfillment
of home, for what was lost to be found.

After leaving Armenia, I, too, was searching. My quest for the perfect
apricot however, turned out to be fruitless.

Back home on the West Coast, I drove up and down California looking
for the apricot that would make all the difference. I looked from
Los Angeles to Fresno, a place of early Armenian settlement sought
out for its similarities back home where migrants became skilled in
farming and agricultural production. I surveyed them in the grocery
stores on a trip to Kenya and in farmers’ markets in England where
I spent an extensive amount of time. I scoured the open-air markets
of Italy in the summer, hoping to replicate the taste of the elusive
apricot. My search from one corner of the world to the other always
ended in disappointment and I was left feeling sour.

Then, after I had forgotten about my intermittent search for months,
a bowl of apricots appeared on my kitchen table looking suspiciously
familiar.

“They’re Armenian apricots,” my mom shouted from the living room. “No
they’re not,” I stubbornly retorted back. She insisted I taste one and,
mostly wanting to prove her wrong, I did. With one bite, the rush of
those afternoons, walking between sprawling Soviet apartment blocks
on broken concrete, stray dogs on one side and neighborhood children
on the other, while I stood, frozen in time cracking open apricots
and inhaling them like air, came back.

How had a supplier in California managed to recreate the flavor of
the Armenian apricot, the ease with which the fruit could be pulled
apart with bare hands, the particular way its juices soaked your
clothes as you struggled to find a second to breathe between bites?

It didn’t take long to solve the mystery.

A very clever green-thumbed entrepreneur, knowing he would be providing
a much needed supply to a massive demand, had at some point brought
back apricot seeds from Armenia to Southern California, planted them
here and managed to recreate their glory, 7,000 miles away from the
plains and valleys that first birthed them.

After eating a handful, I immediately drove to the tiny corner market
my mom had purchased them from and brought several bags back home. I
enjoyed them as the days got hotter and the hum from nearby crickets
grew louder at night. I packed them for a road trip, gave them away
to friends and plotted jam recipes to savor their flavor for eternity,
or at least until winter, anyway.

I had been searching for years for that taste of “home”, a home I
wasn’t born in, didn’t grow up in, but one that nagged at my feet
relentlessly, telling me that I belonged “there” as much as I belonged
“here”.

That taste of home had suddenly and unexpectedly reappeared in my
Los Angeles kitchen, but it didn’t stay for long.

Two weeks after the discovery, the market’s newest batch didn’t
impress. Its looks and taste had faded and so had the euphoria it
brought. The magic of feeling like I was in two places at the same
time tragically ended, taking it back across the ocean, through the
mountains and into the market stalls of Yerevan, poetically continuing
the destiny of a diaspora still wandering, wondering when they’ll
reach home.

I’m still chasing that feeling back to Armenia, having become a kind
of ‘reverse’ migrant, enamored with an apricot that belongs firmly
to a land and place in the world that I feel I often do too.

ARMENIA, EU COMPLETE TALKS ABOUT FREE TRADE AREA

Interfax, Russia
July 24 2013

YEREVAN. July 24

Armenia and the European Union concluded negotiations on the creation
of a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) on Wednesday,
the European Commission posted a statement on its website.

Following the final round of talks, Armenia and the EU reached an
agreement on key aspects of the Association Agreement, which will
create new structure for trade relations between Armenia and the EU,
the statement said.

“The DCFTA will strengthen Armenia’s economic integration with the
EU by providing better market access for European and Armenian goods
and services to each other’s markets,” the statement said.

The Association Agreement with the EU is expected to be initialed
in Lithuania, which is currently chairing the EU and will host the
Eastern partnership summit in November 2013.

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius said on July 23 that
Armenia, Georgia and Moldova could initial and then sign free trade
agreements with the EU this year.

“We can expect the free trade agreements with Moldova, Georgia and,
possibly, Armenia, to be initialed prior to the high-level meeting
in Vilnius. Then we will try to sign [them] as quickly as possible,
it would be best to do this while this European Commission is still
working,” Linkevicius told the Baltic News Service on July 22.

The current European Commission expires in second half of 2013,
BNS reported.

Georgia concluded the DCFTA talks on July 22, while Moldavia did this
even earlier.

ez cm

100 DRAM FARE BRINGS SUPER PROFIT TO TRANSPORT COMPANIES – NGO

18:10 25.07.13

The Informed and Protected Consumer NGO issued a statement in response
to Yerevan Mayor Taron Margaryan’s statement in favor of new fare
rates, 150 drams per passenger.

“Different economic appraisals have lately been made as a result of
the fare rise, with different ways of dealing with the problem offered.

“The Yerevan Municipality has announced its decision today, and
Armenia’s Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan called for discussing
the issues of national importance with the public and NGOs,” the
statement says.

The NGO elaborates on the official reasons for the fare rise by the
Yerevan Municipality.

According to the statement, the monthly maintenance costs for one
minibus are AMD 712,000, but not the claimed AMD 807,000 (even with
all investments). Also, a 14-seater serves 8,190 passengers, but not
the claimed 5,850.

With AMD 712,000 maintenance costs, 8,190 passengers a month and 5%
monthly profit, it turns out that, even with all the investments,
AMD 100 fare means super profit. This means that transport companies
do not need any subsidies. Moreover, they can subsidize socially
vulnerable sections of the population.

HRANUSH HAKOBYAN:IF 1000 ARMENIANS SET UP BUSINESSES IN ARMENIA

Interview with Minister of Diaspora Hranush Hakobyan

Ms. Minister, since its establishment the Ministry of Diaspora was
said to be unnecessary. Does the agency you head justify itself?

Our first goal was to train specialists who would be able to work with
the Diaspora. Now, the Chair of Diaspora at Yerevan State University
trains 12 specialists on Diaspora annually, which is a unique thing.

Chairs of Diaspora were set up at the institutes of history, oriental
studies, language and literature, archeology at the National Academy
of Sciences which have already done a great job. Work is done to
study Western Armenian and create textbooks.

The next task is to handle our centennial property outside the borders
of Armenia, especially in places where the community has disappeared,
such as in Calcutta, Ethiopia, Sudan.

Besides, we are dealing with the problems of our compatriots who
are followers of the Catholic or Evangelist churches. A policy is
proclaimed that a person who feels to be an Armenia is considered an
Armenian. Mixed marriages are a threat, of course, on which we called
a big conference. Two years ago we called our compatriots in mixed
marriages to send their children to Armenia, and about 200 children
participated in the project called Come Back Home.

Over the past 4 years the specialists and we tried to study the
Diaspora, resolve organizational matters. Although it was impossible
to work with 7 million. Over 40 conferences were called in which up
to 10,000 participated. About 5000 families trusted their children to
our ministry who stayed in Armenia during the Come Back Home project.

50-60 children are now studying in Armenian universities.

What has been done for Armenian Syrians who are in a difficult
situation now?

We were ready to host Armenian Syrians. Their first problems were
related to education, health, passports, status, their cars, driving
licenses, and now everything is done for them for free at the level
of legislation. Every day 20-50 Armenians come to the ministry. Their
chief problem is jobs and accommodation. The interagency commission
is doing a hard work and no problem goes unheeded.

Do rich businessmen accommodate Armenian Syrians in their empty
apartments on North Avenue?

31 families accommodated Armenian Syrians in their apartments. The
Center of SMEs organized training, 30-40 Armenian Syrians were pledged
15,000 dollars for setting up their own businesses. Syrian Armenians
are conscientious and hard-working, responsible, we can learn a lot
from them.

Are we ready to make a call for repatriation?

When we declared the project “Come Back Home”, my mother asked me:
“What if they come?” Now confidence in the project is growing every
year, so is the number of those who arrive.

Ms. Hakobyan, there is an opinion that in order to have real change
happen the generation must change. Do you agree?

Time shows that the revolutionary path is not effective – Egypt,
Libya, Syria… It is always necessary to combine experience and youth.

There are countries where the ministers change every five months but
stability is not growing.

Let us admit that now we are living better than in the past. But why
are people leaving now? I have found several answers to this question –
in other places they pay more for doing the same work. Besides, those
who left Russia a long time ago are inviting their fellow villagers
and relatives.

The causes of emigration in the 90s are obvious. Repatriates were not
able to put up with the regime, and as soon as the gates were open,
they left, then war started, energy crisis began, the brain drain
organized by the West began. Armenia must get strong with the help of
its citizens and the Diaspora. We often call our compatriots to invest
money in Armenia. If 1000 Armenians open businesses in Armenia, hire
100 people each, 100 thousand people will have jobs, and they will
not want to leave. Besides historical claims, the Armenian Diaspora
must help Armenia to become powerful, now it must help Armenia build
homes for Armenian Syrians.

Repatriation in 1946 ended up in disappointment. Is it now possible
to expect that the new generation will return?

50 years after repatriation I apologized to repatriates who returned
to Armenia and appeared in Stalin’s hasher. People are returning, for
example, my deputy Vardan Marashyan. We have a lot of people of the
Classic Diaspora who arrived, set up businesses and are living well.

It is true that the press mostly writes about negative things, and they
have reason for that. However, our main task is to ensure rule of law
and equality of everyone before law. (Translated with abridgements.)

Siranuysh Papyan 17:37 25/07/2013 Story from Lragir.am News:

YEREVAN TO HOST ARMENIAN-LEBANESE BUSINESS FORUM IN FALL

July 25, 2013 | 13:50

YEREVAN. – An Armenian-Lebanese business forum will be held this fall
in Armenia’s capital city Yerevan.

The aforesaid was noted during Wednesday’s talk between Ashot
Kocharyan, Armenia’s Ambassador to Lebanon, and Vrej Sabounjian,
Minister of Industry of Lebanon.

The interlocutors underscored the need to develop trade and economic
relations between both countries, the Armenian MFA press service
informs.

It was noted that the abovementioned business forum will contribute
to the strengthening of ties between Armenia and Lebanon.

They also draw attention to the launch of the Beirut-Yerevan-Beirut
direct flights.

In addition, Lebanon’s Armenian minister promised to study the
investment projects and the list of Armenia-made products, which
Ambassador Kocharyan had submitted.

Ashot Kocharyan and Vrej Sabounjian also reflected on the domestic
political and regional matters of Lebanon, and the Armenia-diaspora
collaboration.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

ARMENIAN ASSEMBLY OF AMERICA DELIVERS NEW FACT SHEET ON AZERBAIJAN

July 25, 2013 – 11:46 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Throughout this year, the Armenian Assembly of
America (Assembly) has taken steps to address a serious concern of
the Armenian-American community: the ongoing threats against Armenians
by Azerbaijan.

As Congress looks to approve U.S. foreign aid priorities this week,
the Assembly visited over 125 Members of Congress and hand-delivered
the new 2013 Assembly Press Kit outlining funding priorities for
Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh, including the Assembly’s new FACT SHEET
on Azerbaijan.

Earlier this month, reports surfaced that Azerbaijan had once again
violated the ceasefire agreement along the line of contact some 200
times. These relentless attacks on Armenian civilians, some targeting
a kindergarten school, illustrates the growing hostility of the Aliyev
regime, and coupled with its bellicose rhetoric, raises the specter
of a new war in the South Caucasus.

On the heels of the cross border attacks, it was announced that
Azerbaijan had begun receiving over $1 billion in new weapons and
armaments from Russia.

Therefore, it was timely that a few days later, the Commission on
Security & Cooperation in Europe (U.S. Helsinki Commission) held
a briefing entitled “Troubled Partner: Growing Authoritarianism in
Azerbaijan.” There, the Assembly provided key testimony highlighting
the litany of examples of Azerbaijan’s authoritarian regime, including
but not limited to its suppression of basic freedoms, attacks on
journalists, destruction of the centuries-old Armenian cemetery
in Julfa, Nakhichevan, intransigence in the Nagorno Karabakh peace
process, interference in the Armenian-Turkish reconciliation process,
and massive military expenditures totaling over $6 billion dollars
for FY2011-FY2012.

“The Assembly remains deeply troubled by Azerbaijan’s intransigence
and ongoing threats against America’s ally Armenia,” stated Assembly
Executive Director Bryan Ardouny.

ARMENIAN OPPOSITIONIST SAYS NEGOTIATIONS WITH AUTHORITIES IMPOSSIBLE

10:59 25.07.13

The leader of the Social-Democrat Hnchakyan party is skeptical about
the Heritage party’s proposal on organizing a pan-Armenian round
table discussion in September.

Lyudmila Sargsyan says the plan offered by the party’s leader,
Raffi Hovhannisian, is an attempt to maintain certain positions on
the political arena.

“If the call prompts measures for a round-table discussion expected to
bring the opposition around a round table together with the authorities
for developing an agenda over pan-Armenian issues, that’s already
unfeasible” she told Tert.am. “The situation, which we now have thanks
to the authorities, is naturally very advantageous to them. Hence they
are not going to make any reforms or change the rules of the game; the
existing rules help them reproduce themselves and maintain power. So
to what extent does it make sense to make such a call? We know very
well that the authorities do not need to develop a national agenda;
they are satisfied with what we have today.”

Sargsyan further emphasized the need of distinguishing opposition’s
radical wing from the opposition in general.

“There is both an opposition and a radical opposition. I classify
myself as a radical oppositionist. Hence a round table discussion with
the authorities is not realistic for me. Not because I don’t think it
is possible to talk to the authorities or try to develop an agenda,
but because I understand that the authorities’ agenda is completely
different; it is not intended to make any changes or violate the game
rules,” she added.

Sargsyan, who represents the opposition Armenian National Congress
(ANC) faction in parliament, disagreed to the opinion that the
opposition has now gone underground. “Our young [activists] attend the
protests against the increased public transport fares, and those taken
[to the police] were mostly young people, active members of the ANC.

So, you don’t have any grounds to say that the opposition is passive.

Whenever you see activeness in any place, you can make no doubt that
the opposition is there.”

But the politician agreed to Heritage leader’s remark that the
political developments are going to gain ground in autumn.

“I think the processes will grow into bigger developments. And I find
that the situation today calls for measures to avoid hampering the
civil initiatives, instead of trying to offer any assistance. The
people have to realize that they have rights in our country. They
have to realize that they are to to protect those rights. As for the
political forces, they will join the civil initiatives and we will
be ready to develop our agenda and move ahead in September after the
initiatives become active to a sufficient extent,” she said.

Armenian News – Tert.am