YEREVAN (RFE/RL)—The Armenian Revolutionary
Federation on Wednesday reiterated that the current
administration is pursuing an erroneous foreign policy in
response to remarks by the foreign minister Monday accusing
critics of “speculating on national issues.”
Armen Rustamian, the chairman of the ARF’s
Supreme Body in Armenia, said he hoped the accusations made by
Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian, whom the ARF had urged to
step down, did not refer to his party.
Answering RFE/RL’s question regarding the
recent calls for his resignation over “a failed foreign policy”,
in particular in the continuing Armenian-Azerbaijani
negotiations over Karabakh, Nalbandian described them as
“pointless noise” and “speculation” over matters of national
importance.
In response to the minister’s retaliation,
Rustamian told RFE/RL that the ARF “has no such purpose.”
“We have never used, nor are going to use
national issues to solve any narrow party problems. On the
contrary, the logic of all our statements is that our priority
is to form a united front no matter what partisanship,” he said.
Rustamian, however, again called the
situation ‘alarming’ and blamed it on foreign policy blunders.
In view of the “drastically changed
situation” in the Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiations, Rustamian
said: “When the so-called Madrid principles are officially
disclosed at such a high level, it already ushers in a new stage
in the negotiating process. It is only logical and natural that
the society should be engaged at this stage and all should be
able to express their opinions clearly and, most importantly,
point out what is unacceptable in this process.”
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