Epress.am News from Armenia
The Armenian National Congress (HAK) Party press office has released the first president of Armenia and HAK leader Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s article, ”The Missed Opportunity for Rehabilitating Armenia’s Political Atmosphere.”
The English translation of Levon Ter-Petrosyan's article in its entirety:
In the noon of February 12 of this year, I had sent an article to the iLur website and to the Chorrord Ishkhanutyun (Fourth Estate) daily, with the objective of having it published the following morning. However, when Serzh Sargsyan had come out against Gagik Tsarukyan in his infamous speech in the evening of February 12, I immediately recalled my article from the latter two publishers because its publication would have been perceived in an entirely differentl way in this new situation. However, after long evaluation, I came to the conclusion that regardless of domestic political developments, I did not have the right to conceal a paramount issue, which relates to the vital interest of all Armenians, Armenia, as well as Nagorno-Karabakh. Thus, although delayed, nevertheless, I want to present to the public the article, which I had entitled “Open Letter to Serzh Sargsyan.” Here is the entire original content of that letter:
“First and foremost, I apologize that I am not approaching You confidentially, but instead through an open letter, which is due to two obvious factors:
a. In the event of communicating with You in another manner, taking into consideration our serious political differences, my move, the essence of which I will clarify below, would cause various suspicions and rumors.
b. The motivation behind the letter is related to an important issue of National and Republican significance, which is the issue of the appropriate presentation of the 100th anniversary of Armenian Genocide issue on the international arena, which, as I imagine, should be above any domestic political issues.
Yesterday, I expressed my concerns about the content of “Pan-Armenian Declaration on the Centennial Anniversary of Armenian Genocide” through the media (iLur.am, Chorrort Ishkhanutyun, 11/02/2015), stressing the necessity for its revised in compliance with the norms of international law and the rules of the coexistence between peoples and states, because, I believe that because of that disgraceful document Armenia would not only not garner the sympathy of the international community, but would also lose the support of the states its friendly with.
Thereby, considering that only my expressing concern is insufficient, I want to also make a practical proposal, in which we would meet face to face to Your convenience and under Your conditions, in order to exchange ideas about the issue. In order for that meeting to prove beneficial and be effective, I also think that it is worth creating an advisory commission, whose goal would be to clarify the Republic of Armenia’s final stance on the issue of the Genocide. The result of that commission’s work, thus, should be a newly issued circular message based on the transcript of the original declaration on the centennial anniversary of the Genocide, which should be addressed to the Secretary General of the United Nations, the Acting President of OSCE, the President of the European Union, as well as to all the state leaders in the world, in the name of the President of the Republic of Armenia.
Therefore:
1. The declaration must fully comply with the UN charter, Helsinki Declaration and with Armenia’s obligations under international conventions;
2. It should not contradict the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia;
2. It should not pay tribute to the traditional approaches of a once stateless nation,
4. It should in no way harm the solutions of Armenia’s main issues – Armenian-Turkish relations and the resolution of Karabakh conflict.
It is understandable, that the proposed advisory commission should be composed of people, who have already proven that they are capable of rising above traditional notions and can work from the perspective of Armenian state interests and principles adopted by the contemporary world. I would suggest the following names, who comply with the latter criteria: from Armenia – Babken Araktsyan, Vazgen Manukyan, Gagik Harutyunyan, Vano Siradeghyan, Vartan Oskanian, Stepan Demirchyan, Arman Grigoryan, Ruben Shugaryan, Alexander Arzumanyan, Ashot Voskanyan, Ara Sahakyan, Ruben Vardanyan, Ashot Sargsyan, Hrand Ter-Abrahamyan, Ktrij Sardaryan. From the United States – Jirair Libaridian, Khachig Tölölyan, Ruben Atalian, Ara Sanjian, Hampig Sarafian, Raffi Urfalian; from France – Arman Sarian, Jirayr Malkhasian, Michel Marian, Raffi Kalfayian. From Turkey – Levon Zekiyan; From Argentina – Rupen Mozian. These are people I know. You can add your own names.
As the person who came up with the idea, I am willing to personally participate in the commission’s work, now matter how my “hostile-friends” will interpret my unexpected move. It’s more important to not allow a mistake on a national and state level. Everything else is negligible and secondary.
One more thing, it is possible that I may offer you a similar surprise when complex developments arise during the resolution process of the Karabakh issue. When the future of the nation and state are in danger, I can not sit on my hands and am ready to knock on every door.
12/02/2015”
It upsets me, that hat my suggested idea, based solely on the interests of the nation, is not possible to implement due to the current political retribution and ferocious violence against Gagik Tsarukyan, Prosperous Armenia and the general opposition. Let me also add that it does not interest me at all what kind of bewailing will be raised about my publication, whose urgency is conditioned by the approaching centennial of the Genocide and the imminence of April 24.”