Ter-Petrossian Takes a Swipe at Sargsyan, Criticizes Two Recent Statements

I cannot resist another temptation, which was triggered by (Armenian President) Serzh Sargsyan’s recent remarkable statements, said Armenian National Congress (HAK) leader Levon Ter-Petrossian during his speech at yesterday’s HAK rally. 

The opposition bloc leader noted that Sargsyan made the two speeches in question while meeting with diasporan Armenian journalists in one instance and workers in Shirak marz (province) in another instance (Oct. 16, 2010, and Oct. 23, 2010 respectively).

“In his first speech, he gives a deserved counterattack to Azerbaijan’s state propaganda and ‘with flying colors’ proves that an obvious anti-Armenian fascism is evident in that country, that the Azerbaijanis are not a nation, [and] they too don’t know [if] they’re Mars, Aghvan or Turk, they also don’t know if they’re Christian, Muslim or pagan, while Armenians have an 8,000-year-old history, since recently an expert group of foreign geneticists and linguists uncovered that the Armenian language is that old; therefore, while we were long established as a nation…., the Azerbaijanis were swinging from trees.

“Of course, this is an important benefit in establishing Armenian-Azerbaijani peace and in the settlement of the [Nagorno] Karabakh conflict. Let’s hope that this rhetorical masterpiece will be worthily appreciated by the international community, as was assessed at one time, Robert Kocharian’s epoch-making statement that Armenians and Azerbaijanis are ethnically incompatible peoples,” said Ter-Petrossian.

The HAK leader then went on to say that however Sargsyan’s remarks are viewed, it’s necessary to note that for the first time, Armenia’s president clearly presented his party’s ideology: that of “ethno-worshipping” (worshipping ethnicity) and “ethno-religion.”

Speaking on Sargsyan’s second speech which referred to horrible incidents in the Armenian armed forces, the opposition leader noted that “instead of speaking about punishing those responsible and the need for eradicating those crimes, he considered it necessary to express his deep disgust to those who uncovered and criticized the aforementioned phenomena.”