TER-PETROSIAN, DASHNAKS AGREE ON ‘CIVILIZED STRUGGLE’ IN HISTORIC TALKS
By Ruzanna Stepanian
Radio Liberty, Czech Republic
Oct 1 2007
Levon Ter-Petrosian and top leaders of the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) agreed to make their long-running bitter
feud more "civilized" during a sensational weekend meeting initiated
by Armenia’s former president.
The meeting, held at the Dashnaktsutyun headquarters in Yerevan on
Saturday, came as a further indication that Ter-Petrosian is leaning
towards contesting the approaching presidential election. It was the
first time that he set foot in the offices of a party which he had
accused of terrorist activity and banned during his rule.
Ter-Petrosian was accompanied by Aleksandr Arzumanian, a former foreign
minister and his longtime close associate. They were received by Hrant
Markarian, the top member of Dashnaktsutyun’s worldwide governing
Bureau, and Armen Rustamian, the nominal head of the nationalist
party’s organization in Armenia.
Participants of the talks, which lasted for less than an hour, told
RFE/RL that they focused on the political situation in Armenia and,
in particular, the unfolding preparations for next year’s crucial
presidential election.
"We agreed, among other things, to stay within the bounds of a
political, ideological struggle and not to descend to a lower level,"
said Markarian. They also stressed the need to create an "atmosphere
of tolerance and solidarity in the country," he said.
"It is important for the two parties that the pre-election debate be
civilized and political in nature," said Arzumanian. In his words, the
meeting was part of Ter-Petrosian’s ongoing pre-election consultations
with "important political forces."
The very fact of such an encounter is quite extraordinary given
the extent of mutual animosity which Dashnaktsutyun and Armenia’s
first-Communist government headed by Ter-Petrosian developed even
before the Soviet collapse. The two sides strongly disagreed on
Armenia’s geopolitical priorities, with Dashnaktsutyun insisting
on continued reliance on Russia and a firm Armenian stand on the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and relations with Turkey. The Ter-Petrosian
administration, by contrast, embraced a more pro-Western agenda and
did not regard recognition of the 1915 genocide as a precondition
for normalizing Turkish-Armenian ties.
Their feud culminated in Ter-Petrosian’s decision in December 1994
to ban Dashnaktsutyun on the grounds that it violated Armenia’s law
on political parties and allegedly harbored a death squad. Markarian
and Rustamian were among dozens of party activities arrested and
imprisoned in 1994 and 1995 on murder and coup charges denied by the
nationalist party as politically motivated. Most of them were set
free shortly after Ter-Petrosian resigned and was replaced by Robert
Kocharian in early 1998.
"We deliberately avoided talking about the past because I think all of
us should worry more about the future of our country and our people,"
said Markarian.
"Today is not the time to talk about that," Spartak Seyranian,
a Dashnaktsutyun parliamentarian, agreed on Monday. "But I have a
very good memory and think that nobody in our organization suffers
from a loss of memory."
"We are not forgetting or departing from our ideological differences,
but will try to concentrate our debate during the entire electoral
process exclusively on ideas, programs and proposals," he explained.
Despite being part of Armenia’s governing coalition, Dashnaktsutyun
has pointedly refused to help Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian become
Armenia’s next president and has decided to field its own presidential
candidate instead. The party has repeatedly deplored Sarkisian’s and
Kocharian’s reliance on wealthy government-connected individuals,
many of them with dubious reputations. While reaffirming their highly
negative attitude towards Ter-Petrosian, its leaders say they would
welcome his participation in the presidential election as it would
reduce the role of what they call "apolitical elements" in the
country’s political life.
"I think he should run so that the political landscape has a more
natural structure and every person, every force has its right
place there," Markarian told RFE/RL. He said Ter-Petrosian told the
Dashnaktsutyun leaders that "he is seriously intent no nominating
his candidacy but has not yet made a final decision."
Markarian also said Ter-Petrosian’s possible presidential run would
not lose the Dashnaktsutyun candidate any votes, arguing that the two
political camps appeal to voters with diametrically opposite views
on key issues facing Armenia. "His supporters won’t vote for us and
our supporters won’t vote for him," he said.
Arzumanian, meanwhile, insisted that Ter-Petrosian’s return to active
politics is not a forgone conclusion. "He is continuing to examine the
political field and will make a decision after ending his consultations
and weighing up the political situation," he said.