Dashnaks Again Threaten ‘Regime Change’

The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) will strive to depose President Serzh Sarkisian if his fence-mending agreements with Turkey are unconditionally ratified by Armenia’s parliament, a leader of the nationalist opposition party said on Wednesday.

In a statement circulated on Wednesday, the party, which was for years represented in Armenia’s governments, criticized the ruling, while stressing the importance of some of its passages interpreting the protocols’ implications.  Read more... (406 words)

“Serzh Sargsyan Is Responsible”

ARF representatives are silently awaiting the decision of the Constitutional Court with signs reading “No concessions to Turkey”, “CC, refute the anti-constitutional Protocols” without any screams and are more active when it comes to the issue of the Turkey-Armenia Protocols.

“Why should I believe in the CC when it hasn’t met anybody’s expectations to date? I think that we must demand Serzh Sargsyan’s resignation. He is the one responsible for all this and any reasonable person knows that. The rest are doing what he says and that is my personal opinion. I don’t understand Serzh Sargsyan’s policies. If he is not thinking about the fate of the nation, he doesn’t deserve to be the leader of this nation,” ARF representative Susanna Poghosyan told “A1+” today.  Read more... (404 words)

Armenian Revolutionary Federation Withdraws from Ruling Coalition, Joins Opposition: Hovhannisyan

The most important event for Armenia last year was the way the Armenia-Turkey rapprochment was not thought through, said Armenian Revolutionary Federation parliamentary faction leader Vahan Hovhannisyan, summing up 2009.

“Perhaps it was on the evening of April 23 when our foreign minister announced, along with Switzerland’s and Turkey’s foreign ministers, where he pointed out that he was prepared for the ‘route map’ and everything was already decided beforehand,” emphasized Hovhannisyan.

According to the MP, no document has been established related to the structure and details of the signing of the Protocols, and one cannot consider the preparatory stage to have concluded.  Read more... (220 words)

More Serious Response From Kocharyan

According to ARF Bureau member Vahan Hovhannisyan, Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s statements were more of a “commercial character and were offering services to the authorities in exchange of payment.”

According to Hovhannisyan, Armenia will pay a high price if that payment is from the budget. If not, the payment may be of a political nature, that is, to ensure a certain percentage in the 2012 parliamentary elections. Vahan Hovhannisyan doesn’t consider the decision of the authorities to grant Nikol Pashinyan the necessary notice for registering as a candidate by chance. Vahan Hovhannisyan knows the authorities very well and knows that “they don’t tend to make compromises for even the smallest issues.”  Read more... (372 words)

More People Would Support Armenian National Congress than Dashnaktsutyun: Opinion

“It seems to me, it can be argued, that ANC [Armenian National Congress] is the opposition, while Dashnaktsutyun [Armenian Revolutionary Federation] is not. Dashnaktsutyun attempted to become the opposition, it attempted, it made the right move, someone had to come out on the streets and incite the people, but since Dashnaktsutyun didn’t have that opposition status which Congress had, the people didn’t listen to that call and didn’t follow them. But if Congress had come out, more people would come out after them and there would’ve been results in that case,” said Social Democrat Hunchakian Party (SDHP) member Vahan Shirkhanyan at a press conference today.

Asked if SDHP is against steps taken by the Armenian National Congress, is it possible that it will withdraw from being part of the ANC, Shirkhanyan stated:  Read more... (265 words)

Dashnaks Press Karabakh To Ban Concession Talk

The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) has thrown its weight behind calls for authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh to prosecute anyone who publicly advocates the return of any of the Azerbaijani territories controlled by the Karabakh Armenians.

“All those citizens who call into question our territorial integrity under the guise of mutual concessions or other variants [of settlement with Azerbaijan] must be subjected to criminal liability because that is not a manifestation of democracy or pluralism but an unconstitutional step,” he said during a parliament session in Stepanakert. “And any unconstitutional step must be punishable by criminal law.”  Read more... (517 words)

ARF Dashnaktsutyun: Turkey Goes ByPeconditions

Turkish officials’ activities are aimed at not only internal, domestic audiences, told journalists member of ARF Dashnaktsutyun, Hrayr Karapetyan. He described Armenian foreign policy as “passive and unclear”. When asked about Edward Nalbandyan’s statement that Armenia is not under anyone’s pressure, Hrayr Karapetyan said: “Foreign Minister’s statements are sent to opposition, in particular, to ARFD, instead of being designed to neutralize the statements made by Turkish officials. Our Foreign Ministry’s actions are not in tune with the situation.”

Hrayr Karapetyan expressed regret that Turkish declarations come gradually true. He pointed that Turkey openly seeks to chair OSCE Minsk Group to participate in settlement of Karabakh.  Read more... (161 words)