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SERIOUS TRENDS OF GEOPOLITICAL CHANGES IN SOUTH CAUCASUS LEAD TO CLASHES AND REDRAWING OF BORDERS
ArmInfo's Interview with Zhirayr Sefilyan, Coordinator of the Founding
Parliament Movement Secretariat, leader of the "Centennial Without
the Regime" Movement, Commander of the special battalion of Shushi
by David Stepanyan
Monday, March 9, 16:14
The results of the intra-power confrontation between the Republican
Party of Armenia and the Prosperous Armenia Party are obvious. Who
do you think can occupy the vacant place of the system opposition?
Actually, there is no opposition in the political system of Armenia.
We see the system becoming more and more homogeneous. From now on,
the "opposition" will only include small, poorly organized forces,
which will regularly set up unstable "unions". These processes will be
managed by the rules set by the head of the incumbent regime, which
will retain all the key levers. He will always be able to punish the
"oppositionists" who violate the rules or to destroy the "unions"
created by the "oppositionists". The distortion of Armenia's political
system has approached 100%. This means that the regime will keep
robbing the country, making the people migrate and it will choose
the direction leading to cession of Artsakh and sovereignty. The
"opposition" will only imitate a political fight and mislead the
people. In fact, the intra-system "opposition" is turning from a
junior partner into a power representative for miserable wages. As
long as Armenia is colonized, this will go on at the expense of our
national interests. Therefore, being engaged in the processes inside
the system runs counter to the interests of our nation and state. In
this light, the people should become politically organized outside
the system, liquidate the ruling regime and improve the system. Our
movement has been working for many years to attain that goal. The
Founding Parliament, which was set up on Jan 10, will shortly
become a representative body to express the people's will. The
Founding Parliament will replace the ruling regime after the former
liquidates the latter. The formation of the Founding Parliament is
not accomplished yet; our doors are open to all honest and fighting
people. We have already announced that we will launch the process of
liquidation of the regime on April 24 by means of civil disobedience.
The opponents of the Founding Parliament regularly criticize the
"Centennial Without the Regime" Movement for the intention to use
April 24 for domestic political purposes. Could you tell me the real
motive of the Movement and the agenda for April 24?
The statements suggesting that our movement looks to use April 24 for
domestic policy purposes are either delusion or false presentation
of facts by the incumbent authorities. We must take into account
Armenia's colonization. In such countries, there can be one type of
fight - national-liberation. Such countries lack a political system.
Consequently, in such countries, there can be no domestic political
confrontation between political parties. The true motive of our
movement meets the national interests - upheaval of April 24 and use
of the energy that day for the noble goal of creating a nation-state.
It is high time for the people to realize that without a nation-state
they are doomed to new genocides and are now suffering 'white'
genocide. Therefore, April 24 must help us stop the ongoing genocide
and prevent new ones. Perceiving April 24 exclusively as a mourning
and commemoration day is devastating for the people. April 24 must
mark the start of revival, restoration of justice and establishment
of the national statehood. We are not going to take any steps that
would impede the April 24 events. We will visit the Genocide Memorial
to give tribute to the victims. However, we will use the other part
of the day to build a nation-sate.
Why do you think the Artsakh authorities displayed an unreasonable
attitude to the car rally participants in Berdzor?
Artsakh is the knot tying Armenia to the cart of colonization. Our
movement reveals that knot, grounds the need to undo it and at the
same time demonstrates how to do it. In the meantime, that knot is
a viable issue for the head of the ruling regime in Armenia and its
vicars in Stepanakert. This is how we explain the violence against
the Founding Parliament in Berdzor. The authorities of Armenia and
the NKR are the worthy successors of their spiritual parent, sadly
remembered Boris Kevorkov, who openly declared the inadmissibility
of the Karabakh movement in 1988 because "Karabakh was the status of
his life". Later we saw Kevorkov's weakness. His successors will also
shortly lose their levers of governing.
One of the RPA parliamentarians blamed the Founding Parliament for
"receiving funding from Azerbaijan and Turkey". I am well aware of your
opinion about foreign sources of funding for political movements and
parties. Nevertheless, what do you think this provocation was aimed at?
A three-stage plan to ruin our movement was developed before the
car rally to Artsakh. The plan was as follows: demonization of our
movement before the car rally, violence against the participants and
justification of that violence. It became evident later that the
violence planned against us was to have more grave consequences -
murders or arrests - but it did not happen due to our well-organized
actions. To justify the demonization of the movement and violence
against it, a special propaganda was launched and the necessary
actors - political, secret and information - were chosen for that. The
parliamentarian makes provocative statements to fulfill his part of
the plan.
Russia's unclear response to the Gyumri tragedy and continuous supply
of arms to Azerbaijan, the enemy of Russia's "strategic ally" Armenia
create a situation demonstrating upcoming radical changes in the
regional geopolitics. Some experts think that one of the components
of these changes will be the withdrawal of the 102nd military base
from Armenia. What do you think of the latest geopolitical changes
in the region?
We advocate allied relations, including strategic ones, and we are
convinced that they should be based on the principles of equality and
mutual benefits. They should not affect the dignity or sovereignty
of either of the parties. A strategic ally should not arm the enemy
of its ally. Such a behavior of a strategic ally is unacceptable to us.
On the other hand, it is important for us to ensure Armenia's defensive
capacity with our own efforts. Allied relations are desirable, however,
the allies' support should be secondary. One should not build the
country's security system relying on the force of another country,
even an ally. In the meantime, the serious trends of geopolitical
changes in the South Caucasus lead to clashes, redrawing of borders,
changes in the foreign forces' influence on the region.
Armenia should stop being a passive observer. It should become an
independent subject. In that case, Armenia will be able not only
to avoid getting in the way of the high and mighties and turning
into a small coin, but also to become a full-fledged participant in
these trends and to turn into a regional factor using the results
of the forthcoming perturbations. For that purpose we need at
least to become a bridge on the Iran-Armenia-Georgia-Europe and
Iran-Armenia-Georgia-Russia axes. To perform that task, in 1988-94
we were able to liberate Artsakh and create premises for close ties
with Iran. However, the problem cannot be resolved completely without
Nakhijevan and its communication capacities. Given the unrealistic
nature of the project on construction of a railway via Syunik, the
priority is to establish Armenian control over Nakhijevan in the light
of the upcoming regional impulses. Here we have also a very important,
crucial circumstance - a new generation, which has been formed over
the years of independence, as well as a developing healthy, viable
and sovereign political generation in Armenia and Diaspora. When
developing and conducting a policy, the foreign forces and we should
take this circumstance into consideration.
http://www.arminfo.am/index.cfm?objectid=3455EF30-C65E-11E4-969A0EB7C0D21663
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
ArmInfo's Interview with Zhirayr Sefilyan, Coordinator of the Founding
Parliament Movement Secretariat, leader of the "Centennial Without
the Regime" Movement, Commander of the special battalion of Shushi
by David Stepanyan
Monday, March 9, 16:14
The results of the intra-power confrontation between the Republican
Party of Armenia and the Prosperous Armenia Party are obvious. Who
do you think can occupy the vacant place of the system opposition?
Actually, there is no opposition in the political system of Armenia.
We see the system becoming more and more homogeneous. From now on,
the "opposition" will only include small, poorly organized forces,
which will regularly set up unstable "unions". These processes will be
managed by the rules set by the head of the incumbent regime, which
will retain all the key levers. He will always be able to punish the
"oppositionists" who violate the rules or to destroy the "unions"
created by the "oppositionists". The distortion of Armenia's political
system has approached 100%. This means that the regime will keep
robbing the country, making the people migrate and it will choose
the direction leading to cession of Artsakh and sovereignty. The
"opposition" will only imitate a political fight and mislead the
people. In fact, the intra-system "opposition" is turning from a
junior partner into a power representative for miserable wages. As
long as Armenia is colonized, this will go on at the expense of our
national interests. Therefore, being engaged in the processes inside
the system runs counter to the interests of our nation and state. In
this light, the people should become politically organized outside
the system, liquidate the ruling regime and improve the system. Our
movement has been working for many years to attain that goal. The
Founding Parliament, which was set up on Jan 10, will shortly
become a representative body to express the people's will. The
Founding Parliament will replace the ruling regime after the former
liquidates the latter. The formation of the Founding Parliament is
not accomplished yet; our doors are open to all honest and fighting
people. We have already announced that we will launch the process of
liquidation of the regime on April 24 by means of civil disobedience.
The opponents of the Founding Parliament regularly criticize the
"Centennial Without the Regime" Movement for the intention to use
April 24 for domestic political purposes. Could you tell me the real
motive of the Movement and the agenda for April 24?
The statements suggesting that our movement looks to use April 24 for
domestic policy purposes are either delusion or false presentation
of facts by the incumbent authorities. We must take into account
Armenia's colonization. In such countries, there can be one type of
fight - national-liberation. Such countries lack a political system.
Consequently, in such countries, there can be no domestic political
confrontation between political parties. The true motive of our
movement meets the national interests - upheaval of April 24 and use
of the energy that day for the noble goal of creating a nation-state.
It is high time for the people to realize that without a nation-state
they are doomed to new genocides and are now suffering 'white'
genocide. Therefore, April 24 must help us stop the ongoing genocide
and prevent new ones. Perceiving April 24 exclusively as a mourning
and commemoration day is devastating for the people. April 24 must
mark the start of revival, restoration of justice and establishment
of the national statehood. We are not going to take any steps that
would impede the April 24 events. We will visit the Genocide Memorial
to give tribute to the victims. However, we will use the other part
of the day to build a nation-sate.
Why do you think the Artsakh authorities displayed an unreasonable
attitude to the car rally participants in Berdzor?
Artsakh is the knot tying Armenia to the cart of colonization. Our
movement reveals that knot, grounds the need to undo it and at the
same time demonstrates how to do it. In the meantime, that knot is
a viable issue for the head of the ruling regime in Armenia and its
vicars in Stepanakert. This is how we explain the violence against
the Founding Parliament in Berdzor. The authorities of Armenia and
the NKR are the worthy successors of their spiritual parent, sadly
remembered Boris Kevorkov, who openly declared the inadmissibility
of the Karabakh movement in 1988 because "Karabakh was the status of
his life". Later we saw Kevorkov's weakness. His successors will also
shortly lose their levers of governing.
One of the RPA parliamentarians blamed the Founding Parliament for
"receiving funding from Azerbaijan and Turkey". I am well aware of your
opinion about foreign sources of funding for political movements and
parties. Nevertheless, what do you think this provocation was aimed at?
A three-stage plan to ruin our movement was developed before the
car rally to Artsakh. The plan was as follows: demonization of our
movement before the car rally, violence against the participants and
justification of that violence. It became evident later that the
violence planned against us was to have more grave consequences -
murders or arrests - but it did not happen due to our well-organized
actions. To justify the demonization of the movement and violence
against it, a special propaganda was launched and the necessary
actors - political, secret and information - were chosen for that. The
parliamentarian makes provocative statements to fulfill his part of
the plan.
Russia's unclear response to the Gyumri tragedy and continuous supply
of arms to Azerbaijan, the enemy of Russia's "strategic ally" Armenia
create a situation demonstrating upcoming radical changes in the
regional geopolitics. Some experts think that one of the components
of these changes will be the withdrawal of the 102nd military base
from Armenia. What do you think of the latest geopolitical changes
in the region?
We advocate allied relations, including strategic ones, and we are
convinced that they should be based on the principles of equality and
mutual benefits. They should not affect the dignity or sovereignty
of either of the parties. A strategic ally should not arm the enemy
of its ally. Such a behavior of a strategic ally is unacceptable to us.
On the other hand, it is important for us to ensure Armenia's defensive
capacity with our own efforts. Allied relations are desirable, however,
the allies' support should be secondary. One should not build the
country's security system relying on the force of another country,
even an ally. In the meantime, the serious trends of geopolitical
changes in the South Caucasus lead to clashes, redrawing of borders,
changes in the foreign forces' influence on the region.
Armenia should stop being a passive observer. It should become an
independent subject. In that case, Armenia will be able not only
to avoid getting in the way of the high and mighties and turning
into a small coin, but also to become a full-fledged participant in
these trends and to turn into a regional factor using the results
of the forthcoming perturbations. For that purpose we need at
least to become a bridge on the Iran-Armenia-Georgia-Europe and
Iran-Armenia-Georgia-Russia axes. To perform that task, in 1988-94
we were able to liberate Artsakh and create premises for close ties
with Iran. However, the problem cannot be resolved completely without
Nakhijevan and its communication capacities. Given the unrealistic
nature of the project on construction of a railway via Syunik, the
priority is to establish Armenian control over Nakhijevan in the light
of the upcoming regional impulses. Here we have also a very important,
crucial circumstance - a new generation, which has been formed over
the years of independence, as well as a developing healthy, viable
and sovereign political generation in Armenia and Diaspora. When
developing and conducting a policy, the foreign forces and we should
take this circumstance into consideration.
http://www.arminfo.am/index.cfm?objectid=3455EF30-C65E-11E4-969A0EB7C0D21663
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress