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DASHNAKTSUTYUN CONDEMNS TURKISH-ARMENIAN DEAL
RFE/RL
23.04.2009
Armenia -- Flag of Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) party
(Dashnaktsutyun)
The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) on Thursday
strongly condemned a far-reaching agreement announced by Ankara and
Yerevan and said it could pull out of Armenia's governing coalition
in protest.
"For us it is absolutely unacceptable to normalize relations with
Turkey at the expense of a viable and sovereign existence of our
state and the state-national rights of generations," Dashnaktsutyun
said in a statement. "Being committed to these principles, we regard
as unacceptable and condemnable the signing by Armenia's Foreign
Ministry on April 22 of a joint statement with Turkey."
The influential nationalist party said the announced "roadmap" for
normalizing Turkish-Armenian relations heralded a "negative" change in
Armenia's foreign policy. Dashnaktsutyun's leadership will therefore
"discuss in the coming days the expediency of its participation" in
President Serzh Sarkisian's four-party coalition government, it said.
The extraordinary move, which could have major repercussions for
political developments in Armenia, came the day after Dashnaktsutyun'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.
Markarian and other Dashnaktsutyun leaders spoke at a special seminar
in Yerevan on Turkish-Armenian relations. They seem to have been
unaware that the Turkish and Armenian foreign ministries are about
to issue a joint statement.
Dashnaktsutyun emphasized the fact that the statement came on the
eve of the annual commemoration of more than one million Armenians
slaughtered during the dying years of the Ottoman Empire. It warned
earlier that the Turks are exploiting the dialogue with Armenia to
prevent an official U.S. recognition of the massacres as genocide.
The party also cited on Thursday "overtly anti-Armenian statements"
made by Turkish leaders of late -- an apparent reference to
their renewed linkage between Turkish-Armenian relations and the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Dashnaktsutyun agreed to join Sarkisian's coalition cabinet a year ago
despite challenging him in the February 2008 presidential election. Its
leaders have repeatedly voiced serious misgivings about the ensuing
thaw in Turkish-Armenian ties. The party, which has branches in all
major Armenian communities abroad, has traditionally favored a harder
line on Turkey.
RFE/RL
23.04.2009
Armenia -- Flag of Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) party
(Dashnaktsutyun)
The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) on Thursday
strongly condemned a far-reaching agreement announced by Ankara and
Yerevan and said it could pull out of Armenia's governing coalition
in protest.
"For us it is absolutely unacceptable to normalize relations with
Turkey at the expense of a viable and sovereign existence of our
state and the state-national rights of generations," Dashnaktsutyun
said in a statement. "Being committed to these principles, we regard
as unacceptable and condemnable the signing by Armenia's Foreign
Ministry on April 22 of a joint statement with Turkey."
The influential nationalist party said the announced "roadmap" for
normalizing Turkish-Armenian relations heralded a "negative" change in
Armenia's foreign policy. Dashnaktsutyun's leadership will therefore
"discuss in the coming days the expediency of its participation" in
President Serzh Sarkisian's four-party coalition government, it said.
The extraordinary move, which could have major repercussions for
political developments in Armenia, came the day after Dashnaktsutyun'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.
Markarian and other Dashnaktsutyun leaders spoke at a special seminar
in Yerevan on Turkish-Armenian relations. They seem to have been
unaware that the Turkish and Armenian foreign ministries are about
to issue a joint statement.
Dashnaktsutyun emphasized the fact that the statement came on the
eve of the annual commemoration of more than one million Armenians
slaughtered during the dying years of the Ottoman Empire. It warned
earlier that the Turks are exploiting the dialogue with Armenia to
prevent an official U.S. recognition of the massacres as genocide.
The party also cited on Thursday "overtly anti-Armenian statements"
made by Turkish leaders of late -- an apparent reference to
their renewed linkage between Turkish-Armenian relations and the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Dashnaktsutyun agreed to join Sarkisian's coalition cabinet a year ago
despite challenging him in the February 2008 presidential election. Its
leaders have repeatedly voiced serious misgivings about the ensuing
thaw in Turkish-Armenian ties. The party, which has branches in all
major Armenian communities abroad, has traditionally favored a harder
line on Turkey.