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Public TV of Armenia
May 2 2012
Revolution main mission of Armenian opposition - politician
An Armenian opposition member has said that revolution is their main
mission today, Armenian Public TV reported on 2 May.
"For us the mission is not the [6 May parliamentary] election, for us
the mission is revolution. Today, a revolution is under way in
Armenia, it started in 2008 and is continuing up to now," the
coordinator of the opposition umbrella group Armenian National
Congress (ANC), Levon Zurabyan, said in an interview with Armenian
Public TV.
Zurabyan said that people had already decided what they want, and they
would not yield to the "slaveholding system" functioning in Armenia
anymore. According to Zurabyan, an attempt is being made in the
country to create a society ruled by oligarchs, where people will not
be able to have their own business but will have to survive like
"labourers" and "slaves". In this light, Zurabyan stressed that in
case the ANC entered parliament, it would introduce an anti-monopoly
strategy and boost economic competition.
Zurabyan also touched upon the failed dialogue between the authorities
and the opposition, blaming the authorities for their unwillingness to
follow the path of democratic processes and thwarting the dialogue.
"After this, we could do nothing but to announce our main slogan,
which is 'Armenia without [Armenian President] Serzh Sargsyan, without
his regime'. And we are trying to unite all political forces and
society to reach this goal," Zurabyan said, adding that the 6 May
parliamentary election was a good opportunity for reaching this goal.
The ANC coordinator said that the ruling Republican Party of Armenia
(RPA) had no chance to be re-elected to parliament, after having
destroyed Armenia's economy in the last four years, other than through
massive election fraud. "And in order to prevent this mass election
fraud, to catch the Republican vote-stealer by hand, we have set up a
united headquarters, which includes the Armenian National Congress,
[parliamentary opposition] Armenian Revolutionary Federation -
Dashnaktsutyun, [ruling coalition member] Prosperous Armenia and
[parliamentary opposition] Heritage. Heritage has signed [the
document], its signature is in force, but it does not take part in the
meetings, and it is their choice, they can participate any moment and
have their voice," Zurabyan said, refusing to comment on Heritage's
statement on withdrawal from the headquarters.
The ANC member said they had received a historical chance to "get rid
of this regime". In this light, Zurabyan noted that the ANC had
registered considerable success during its election campaign in
Yerevan and the regions, adding that people's support and their
"arising spirit" had given much strength to them.
Referring to the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over the disputed
territory of Nagornyy Karabakh, Zurabyan said that in 1994 Armenia
headed by Levon Ter-Petrosyan, who is currently the ANC leader, had
achieved considerable success in this issue at the OSCE Budapest
Summit, when Nagornyy Karabakh had been recognized as a full party to
the conflict. However, Zurabyan continued, due to the policy pursued
by second Armenian President Robert Kocharyan and acting President
Serzh Sargsyan, Karabakh has been completely ousted from the
negotiating process, where it is now represented by Armenia. Zurabyan
said that in order to solve the issue, Serzh Sargsyan should have
announced that he did not have any "mandate" to negotiate on behalf of
Nagornyy Karabakh.
"He [Serzh Sargsyan] continues to negotiate on behalf of Nagornyy
Karabakh, as a Karabakh native. This, of course, strengthens his
position in the international community, as was the case under Robert
Kocharyan, and ensures a comfortable format for the negotiations, but
it brings no benefit either to Armenia or to Nagornyy Karabakh, which
slowly loses all the prospects of becoming an international entity,"
Zurabyan said, adding that the ANC's goal was to make Nagornyy
Karabakh a full participant in the negotiating process together with
Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Zurabyan said that if Armenia continued to yield to Azerbaijan in its
development pace, arms, population, economic resources, and if this
strategic imbalance continued to increase between Armenia and
Azerbaijan, the latter would have a "temptation" to solve the conflict
by force. Thus, according to Zurabyan, the only way to prevent such a
scenario and to obligate Azerbaijan to make concessions is Armenia's
becoming a powerful democratic state.
"We see the Karabakh settlement in mutual concessions, but, first of
all, Azerbaijan has to go for concessions, and this is possible only
in one case, if Armenia starts developing economically, if Armenia
starts to populate Karabakh, if people start to return to Armenia, and
today people are leaving Armenia. Now the most important issue is not
what technical and diplomatic solution we will find to this [Karabakh]
settlement, the solution is in Armenia's becoming powerful," Zurabyan
said, adding that only by means of "a democratic revolution" in
Armenia it would be possible to solve the Karabakh conflict.
May 2 2012
Revolution main mission of Armenian opposition - politician
An Armenian opposition member has said that revolution is their main
mission today, Armenian Public TV reported on 2 May.
"For us the mission is not the [6 May parliamentary] election, for us
the mission is revolution. Today, a revolution is under way in
Armenia, it started in 2008 and is continuing up to now," the
coordinator of the opposition umbrella group Armenian National
Congress (ANC), Levon Zurabyan, said in an interview with Armenian
Public TV.
Zurabyan said that people had already decided what they want, and they
would not yield to the "slaveholding system" functioning in Armenia
anymore. According to Zurabyan, an attempt is being made in the
country to create a society ruled by oligarchs, where people will not
be able to have their own business but will have to survive like
"labourers" and "slaves". In this light, Zurabyan stressed that in
case the ANC entered parliament, it would introduce an anti-monopoly
strategy and boost economic competition.
Zurabyan also touched upon the failed dialogue between the authorities
and the opposition, blaming the authorities for their unwillingness to
follow the path of democratic processes and thwarting the dialogue.
"After this, we could do nothing but to announce our main slogan,
which is 'Armenia without [Armenian President] Serzh Sargsyan, without
his regime'. And we are trying to unite all political forces and
society to reach this goal," Zurabyan said, adding that the 6 May
parliamentary election was a good opportunity for reaching this goal.
The ANC coordinator said that the ruling Republican Party of Armenia
(RPA) had no chance to be re-elected to parliament, after having
destroyed Armenia's economy in the last four years, other than through
massive election fraud. "And in order to prevent this mass election
fraud, to catch the Republican vote-stealer by hand, we have set up a
united headquarters, which includes the Armenian National Congress,
[parliamentary opposition] Armenian Revolutionary Federation -
Dashnaktsutyun, [ruling coalition member] Prosperous Armenia and
[parliamentary opposition] Heritage. Heritage has signed [the
document], its signature is in force, but it does not take part in the
meetings, and it is their choice, they can participate any moment and
have their voice," Zurabyan said, refusing to comment on Heritage's
statement on withdrawal from the headquarters.
The ANC member said they had received a historical chance to "get rid
of this regime". In this light, Zurabyan noted that the ANC had
registered considerable success during its election campaign in
Yerevan and the regions, adding that people's support and their
"arising spirit" had given much strength to them.
Referring to the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over the disputed
territory of Nagornyy Karabakh, Zurabyan said that in 1994 Armenia
headed by Levon Ter-Petrosyan, who is currently the ANC leader, had
achieved considerable success in this issue at the OSCE Budapest
Summit, when Nagornyy Karabakh had been recognized as a full party to
the conflict. However, Zurabyan continued, due to the policy pursued
by second Armenian President Robert Kocharyan and acting President
Serzh Sargsyan, Karabakh has been completely ousted from the
negotiating process, where it is now represented by Armenia. Zurabyan
said that in order to solve the issue, Serzh Sargsyan should have
announced that he did not have any "mandate" to negotiate on behalf of
Nagornyy Karabakh.
"He [Serzh Sargsyan] continues to negotiate on behalf of Nagornyy
Karabakh, as a Karabakh native. This, of course, strengthens his
position in the international community, as was the case under Robert
Kocharyan, and ensures a comfortable format for the negotiations, but
it brings no benefit either to Armenia or to Nagornyy Karabakh, which
slowly loses all the prospects of becoming an international entity,"
Zurabyan said, adding that the ANC's goal was to make Nagornyy
Karabakh a full participant in the negotiating process together with
Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Zurabyan said that if Armenia continued to yield to Azerbaijan in its
development pace, arms, population, economic resources, and if this
strategic imbalance continued to increase between Armenia and
Azerbaijan, the latter would have a "temptation" to solve the conflict
by force. Thus, according to Zurabyan, the only way to prevent such a
scenario and to obligate Azerbaijan to make concessions is Armenia's
becoming a powerful democratic state.
"We see the Karabakh settlement in mutual concessions, but, first of
all, Azerbaijan has to go for concessions, and this is possible only
in one case, if Armenia starts developing economically, if Armenia
starts to populate Karabakh, if people start to return to Armenia, and
today people are leaving Armenia. Now the most important issue is not
what technical and diplomatic solution we will find to this [Karabakh]
settlement, the solution is in Armenia's becoming powerful," Zurabyan
said, adding that only by means of "a democratic revolution" in
Armenia it would be possible to solve the Karabakh conflict.