Kiro Manoyan, the chief spokesman for Dashnaktsutyun’s worldwide ruling Bureau, thinks resettlement of the liberated territories is primary. It is interesting, however, the resettlement of which territories the ARF representative means…all the territories, or, maybe some territories cannot be resettled because they will be returned to Azerbaijan. “There is no territory that should not be settled, but logically we must start with what is relatively easier. It is important to start. It is important to instill in people that the territories which are being settled will not be returned,” Manoyan says. He says there have been failures in resettlement, and the people who left these territories are not to blame, but those responsible for running these territories. Manoyan hinted at NKR president Arkady Ghukasyan as well. He had stated a few weeks ago that the NKR government cannot settle these territories without outside assistance because it is quite expensive. Manoyan says if there is a policy of settlement, it is always possible to raise funds. Manoyan, in charge of political affairs and Hay Dat, says it is negative that different Armenian officials are considering returning one territory or another. Namely, he criticized Serge Sargsyan, who stated that Aghdam is not an Armenian territory. According to Manoyan, it might have been tactics, but it is wrong because it may become an actual strategy and we may suddenly start believing what we said. The ARF Dashnaktsutyun thinks the next president of Karabakh must announce that the talks on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict are not effective, and demand involvement of Karabakh in the talks, and Armenia must recognize the independence of Karabakh considering the ineffective talks and the defiance of Azerbaijan. Manoyan, who is in charge of the political affairs and Hay Dat of the ARF Bureau, made this statement at a news conference on June 25. Manoyan thinks the fact that Karabakh and Armenia will soon have new presidents is an excellent opportunity for a change of the format. However, the reporters asked for Manoyan’s thoughts about the possible influence on the talks of the fact that, according to the political scientist Igor Muradyan, that the presidential candidate in Nagorno-Karabakh supported by the government is a “drug user”. The reporters wondered if, in the case Bako Sahakyan is elected, the United States might recall Elizabeth Jones’ statement about trafficking in drugs. They also asked if Bako Sahakyan, with such a reputation, could represent the interests of Karabakh. One of the reporters even feared that Sahakyan is unable to fulfill this mission. Kiro Manoyan said, however, that the initiative to put up Bako Sahakyan as a “common candidate” is Dashnaktsutyun’s, not Arkady Ghukasyan’s. “I do not mean Bako. I mean the common candidate. The problem was to have a common candidate. Independent of personality. The problem was to have a common candidate because in Karabakh we cannot afford different approaches, Manoyan says. Hence, for Dashnaktsutyun it was not important who the common candidate would be. Manoyan disagrees, however, saying that there were discussions on the personality but he, for instance, cannot answer the question how Bako Sahakyan was chosen. He only says the political parties of Karabakh negotiated and endorsed Bako Sahakyan, and he is not aware why Sahakyan was chosen. By the way, Manoyan also stated that he does not know if Sahakyan uses drugs.
