Epress.am News from Armenia
President of the Football Federation of Armenia (FFA), MP Ruben Hayrapetyan believes that a portion of journalists don’t like him and vilify him because at one time he didn’t agree to join Armenian National Congress (HAK) leader and Armenia’s first president Levon Ter-Petrossian.
The ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) MP said that until the 2008 presidential election, he decided in favor of HHK party leader, current president of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan, because he saw “the bad in previous governments.”
The last time he met with Ter-Petrossian’s representative, continued Hayrapetyan, was in January 2008.
Hayrapetyan said he personally met with Ter-Petrossian in Aug. 2007 when “Ter-Petrossian was coming from [opposition activist and senior HAK representative] Nikol Pashinyan’s village and he met him at Sevan’s Harsnakar [resort].”
“He was dreaming that I would join him — he asked me three times,” said Hayrapetyan.
The MP said he didn’t take up the offer because Serzh Sargsyan is his friend and he saved him from Ter-Petrossian’s “clutches” back in 1996, when the government at the time was persecuting him.
Weighing in on media reports that he is in the business of selling narcotics, Hayrapetyan said “Levon Ter-Petrossian and his pack” were dealing in the trade in the 90s.
Asked by journalists if he isn’t afraid that Levon Ter-Petrossian will take him to court (presumably for slander), Hayrapetyan said: “Let him take me to court. I’ll prove it in court. I will also prove in court those murders which… the internal affairs minister during his term is wanted [referring to Vano Siradeghyan]. Let him take me to court; we’ll see, we’ll prove it, or not,” he said.
The FFA president added that today he continues to have contact with Ter-Petrossian’s supporters because he doesn’t divide people according to political parties. Nevertheless, he has no personal contact with Levon Ter-Petrossian, nor does he want to, and if the opposition leader were to assume power in the country, according to Hayrapetyan, he would resign (as a MP) and leave the country.