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The
Armenian Revolutionary Federation on Thursday strongly
condemned an agreement announced by Ankara and Yerevan and
said it could pull out of Armenia's governing coalition in
protest. Armenia's main opposition forces also gave a highly
negative assessment of the deal.
The party issued the
following announcement:
The pivotal
issue on Armenia's political and the national agenda in
recent months has been the normalization of Armenian-Turkish
relations.
The Armenian Revolutionary Federation has declared, time
and again, that good-neighborly relations between the two
countries can only be established after the recognition by
Turkey of the Armenian Genocide and the restoration of the
rights of the Armenian people. The lifting of the blockade
and the establishment of diplomatic relations, without
preconditions, can only serve as first steps on this path.
It is absolutely unacceptable for us that relations with
Turkey be normalized at the expense of Armenia's
sovereignty, the viability of its existence, or the national
and state rights of future Armenian generations.
Deeply committed to these principles, we find unacceptable
and condemn the signing, by Armenia's Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, of the April 22 joint statement with Turkey.
The statement comes on the eve of the commemoration, on
April 24, of the greatest tragedy of the Armenian people.
The leaders of Turkey have recently made anti-Armenian
announcements in general and on the Artsakh issue in
particular, and have restated preconditions for the
normalization of relations. The release of the statement at
this time and in these circumstances is a blow to the
interests of Armenia and the Armenian people.
Noting that this process implies a negative change in the
direction of Armenia's foreign policy, the ARF will, in the
coming days, discuss the expediency of its continued
participation in the governing coalition.”
The ARF Bureau political director Giro
Manoyan told RFE/RL that party leaders plan to meet and
demand explanations from Sarkisian after he returns from a
visit to Moscow. The issue is likely to be on the agenda of
Saturday's meeting of Armenia's National Security Council.
ARF Supreme Council of Armenia chairman Armen Rustamian is a
member of the presidential body.
The ARF's announcement came the day after the party's top
leader, Hrant Markarian, publicly lambasted Sarkisian's
year-long diplomatic overtures to Turkey, saying that they
have seriously damaged Armenia's national interests. He said
that Yerevan has made major concessions to Ankara while
failing to secure the lifting the of the Turkish economic
blockade of Armenia.
“When you draw up a roadmap for negotiations, you plan for a
long, very long period,” said Manoyan. “This contradicts the
notion that these negotiations must be quick and productive
and that they will otherwise be meaningless,” speaking to
the hasty timing of the announcement.
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