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Opponents Spurn Dashnak Criticism Over Turkey, Karabakh

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  • Opponents Spurn Dashnak Criticism Over Turkey, Karabakh

    OPPONENTS SPURN DASHNAK CRITICISM OVER TURKEY, KARABAKH
    Anush Martirosian

    Armenialiberty.org
    Aug 26 2009

    Representatives of Armenia's government and opposition camps have
    spurned, for different reasons, the criticism contained in the latest
    statement of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun),
    in which the nationalist party called for Yerevan's major policy
    change on Turkey and Nagorno-Karabakh.

    In a statement released on Tuesday, Dashnaktsutyun's Executive Council
    of Armenia, in particular, called for an end to negotiations with
    Turkey, which it described as "seriously dangerous for Armenia" and
    "serving Turkish interests".

    "Time has shown that these negotiations are fruitless," Artyusha
    Shahbazian, a member of the party's supreme body, stressed in an
    interview with RFE/RL on Wednesday. He added that Dashnaktsutyun
    would not limit itself to a public rally in Yerevan on September 2
    dealing with the current state of Armenian-Turkish relations and the
    Nagorno-Karabakh settlement process, but would continue to present
    its demands on these issues also "in other ways".

    Dashnaktsutyun, which cited foreign policy differences to quit
    Armenia's ruling coalition in April after staying within Armenian
    governments for nearly a decade, also reaffirmed on Tuesday that it
    continued to hold Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian responsible
    for "diplomatic failures" both in the current Armenian-Turkish
    rapprochement and in the continuing peace talks with Azerbaijan over
    Nagorno-Karabakh.

    Vice-Chairman of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) Razmik
    Zohrabian laughed off the stance of the former coalition partner,
    noting that the foreign minister solely fulfils the policy of the
    current political coalition and the president.

    "If they [Dashnaktsutyun] demand the resignation of the foreign
    minister, it means they also hit the political coalition," Zohrabian
    underscored.

    In its statement, Dashnaktsutyun also demanded that Nagorno-Karabakh
    regain a full party's status in the continuing talks with Azerbaijan
    where at present Armenia effectively negotiates on its behalf.

    Hovannes Igitian, a senior member of the opposition Armenian National
    Movement (HHSh), called Dashnaktsutyun's demand 'illogical' given
    the party's tacit support for the policy of former president Robert
    Kocharian, whom Armenia's main opposition group holds responsible
    for supplanting Nagorno-Karabakh as a negotiating party.

    "Dashnaktsutyun supported him and perhaps out of gratitude did not
    interfere with Kocharian's policies and did not point out those
    mistakes. And today, when the process is becoming irreversible,
    suddenly Dashnaktsutyun remembers that something wrong has
    happened. This all is more connected with individuals rather than
    with the objective situation," said Igitian.

    The main opposition Armenian National Congress (HAK), of which the
    HHSh is a core member, is also known to support Stepanakert's return
    to the negotiating table as a full party.

    The HAK and its top leader, ex-president Levon Ter-Petrosian, have
    also repeatedly denounced the current administration's policy on
    Turkey as a gross failure.
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