TER-PETROSYAN: “EITHER SERIOUS TURNING POINT OR SPECIFICATION”
09:31 pm | September 23, 2011 | Politics
SPEECH BY LEVON TER-PETROSYAN AT THE RALLY HELD ON 23 SEPTEMBER 2011
Dear compatriots,
It seemed as though all had been said about the bandit, criminal
and illegitimate regime in Armenia, and that one would rarely find
anything else to add. However, shocking news dispels that impression
and gives us the chance to look at the issue from a totally different
angle. I’m referring to the scandalous releases of Wikileaks, which
shows that the United States knew more about the essence of Armenia’s
government than we did. In other words, thanks to careful and detailed
reports prepared on a regular basis, the U.S. diplomats accredited
to Yerevan were perfectly aware that
1. Not only did the 2008 presidential elections not meet international
standards at all, but they were also orchestrated by large-scale
electoral violations, stuffings, electoral bribes, assaults, the use
of administrative resources, the horrible exaggeration of number of
voters, the creation of unequal opportunities for the candidates’
campaigns that had an essential impact on the results of the vote.
2. The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights
Office (ODIHR) observatory mission had given an evaluation of the
February 19 presidential elections under the pressure of OSCE and
PACE parliamentary delegations and as a result of a consensus reached
between certain OSCE-member states.
3. When taking a decision on the 2008 presidential elections, the
RA Constitutional Court was also subject to pressure, but this time,
it wasn’t on the part of foreign powers, but the Armenian government.
According to U.S. diplomats’ information and observations, the
court had been inclined to uphold the appeal for the results of the
elections, but had been forced to take a different decision due to
threats and Robert Kocharyan’s demand (Wikileaks, 08YEREVAN199, 226).
4. In addition to the presidential elections, the 2008 elections for
district head of Kentron district in Yerevan and the 2009 elections
for Yerevan’s council of elders were massively and systematically
falsified.
5. The government established in Armenia is in its nature a
kleptokratia with Robert Kocharyan and Serzh Sargsyan at the top.
6. Thanks to its close relations with the authorities, the oligarchs
have also obtained a tremendous political weight and have become the
base of the bandit regime and one of the most basic instruments for
falsifying elections.
7. The principle of independent courts is fully breached and distorted.
8. All electronic means of information, that is, all radio and
television stations are under full control of the government.
9. The authorities are creating illegal hindrances for the opposition’s
even limited propaganda and are denying their appeals for holding
rallies with groundless explanations.
10. In relation to the 2008 presidential elections and the events of
March 1, hundreds of opposition members were politically persecuted
for their political actions and were sentenced to prison for different
periods for phony cases and under groundless charges. The trials have
taken place with violations.
11. Even though the U.S. and the European Union-member states,
as well as official representatives of international organizations
have never used the term “political prisoner” to describe citizens
sentenced to prison for the presidential elections and the events of
March 1, the words “political prisoners” and “political detainees”
have been mentioned in the diplomats’ reports on the mentioned people.
12. During the presidential elections, especially after the murders
of March 1 and the declaration of a state of emergency, in addition
to opposition figures, the opposition’s supporters and even average
citizens have been politically persecuted as well. Many people have
been fired, starting from nine diplomats and the prosecutor general
and ending with university professors, teachers, employees of budgetary
institutions and private companies.
Many of you are surely aware of all this, except for certain details
that are not new because America’s notion of Armenia’s reality
almost falls in line with the Armenian National Congress’s notion. Be
rest assured that the confidential reports sent by the embassies of
the European Union-member states in Yerevan have the same content,
meaning that the U.S. has been aware of all the defective phenomena
in our country, starting from the falsification of elections and the
corruption and ending with the violations of democratic liberties and
human rights. The West has also been well aware that Serzh Sargsyan
didn’t win in the 2008 presidential elections and seized power by
force, but closed its eyes and did everything to legitimize and
strengthen his power.
A detailed study on the Wikileaks documents shows that the most
important, if not the only issue that concerns the U.S. is the
normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations. That topic runs like
a red line in the numerous reports sent from the U.S. Embassies in
Yerevan, as well as Ankara and Baku. It shows that America doesn’t
have any other strategic interest in Armenia, besides, perhaps the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement. However, it still looks at that
from the angle of normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations.
Mentioning all this, I don’t doubt the true goal of the United States
and the European Union. I am fully convinced that the normalization
of Armenian-Turkish relations and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
settlement are in the interests of not only international security
and cooperation, but first and foremost the interests of countries and
nations in the region, including Armenia and the Armenian people. The
error in the policy led by the United States and the European Union
countries is not the goal that they are pursuing, but the road that
they are taking. They have laid an exclusive card for Serzh Sargsyan
in those processes without taking into account the importance of
Armenian society’s opinion and the need for the people’s support in
solving those issues.
Any deal made at the price of democracy and human rights is doomed to
failure if not in the short run, then definitely in the long run. The
United States’ and the European Union’s unreserved support for Serzh
Sargsyan has not faciliated, but has complicated the implementation
of their major goal, and proof of that is the labyrinth created
for Armenian-Turkish relations and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
settlement.
The United States and European Union countries must finally
understand that the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations,
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement, thesolution to Armenia’s
domestic issues such as eradication of corruption, the restoration of
legitimacy and the improvement of the social-economic state are only
possible in the case of the formation of truly elected, law-abiding
and trustworthy authorities.
Regardless of the West’s behavior, the Armenian people will in no
way adapt to the thought of having a bandit, uncivilized government
in its own country. The Wikileaks revelations instill more conviction
and determination to free the country of the bandit regime and restore
constitutional order in the country. Leading the pan-national movement
with responsibility, the Armenian National Congress has always aimed
at reaching its goal through peace, legally, by engaging in dialogue
with the authorities and trying to get out of the political crisis
in a civilized manner. However, it seems as though the word “civil”
is strange to the authorities, and they only understand through
pressure, which is also mentioned in the U.S. diplomats’ reports
(Wikileaks, 09YEREVAN137).
Thus, from this day forth, we must add our pressure and organize
more frequent rallies, as well as force the authorities to fulfill
the following demands through other mass measures:
1. Hold snap presidential and parliamentary elections by the end of
this year.
2. Make essential amendments in the RA Electoral Code before the
elections by including in them our suggestions.
3. Reveal the ten murders of March 1 and start criminal persecution
against those responsible within three months.
4. Release political prisoner Tigran Arakelyan and quash the cases
instigated against the seven ANC youth activists.
5. Lift the illegitimate ban on street trade in Yerevan.
6. Declare as invalid the decision on demolishing kiosks in Yerevan.
7. Terminate the perversion of the architectural image of Yerevan
and ban the construction of tall buildings in the capital.
8. Prohibit by law the practice of the persecution of high-ranking
officials, National Assembly deputies and local self-government body
heads against the media and journalists.
It is clear that meeting the first two demands is harder. So, we
deem it necessary to declare that we are not maximalist and that
we are ready to treat the authorities’ reasonable mutual concession
seriously. As I had mentioned in my previous speech, there will be
a serious turning point or a final specification in the issue of
overcoming the political crisis in Armenia in September-October,
and you will see that during our next rally to be held on September 30.
From: Baghdasarian