Chairman of Heritage party Raffi Hovhannisyan says that he will demand from the PACE president Lluís Maria de Puig to give explanations about his announcement in Baku last week stating that Armenia has occupied the territories of Azerbaijan.
“If he has really said such things, then first of all we should take that responsibility and focus the attention of our non-democratic behavior on that announcement. But if next week Mr Puig comes to Armenia I will ask him basing on which document or thesis he made that announcement, which is not only irony of history but also a big violation of the negotiations and talks,” said Raffi Hovhannisyan during a press conference. He also says that the PACE president is led by double standards and it is directly connected with Armenia and the Armenian people.
Concerning the main topic of the press conference as to why he dropped his membership in the Armenian delegation to the PACE, the head of the Heritage party said, “Armenia is entering a dangerous phase. There is a big gap and we can see that gap every day. All you can see that the inner behavior of Armenia, the lack of democracy, legitimacy gap are directly affecting our foreign relations. In other words, I am not the one to stress this danger. I think that any citizen of Armenia, whether government, opposition or an ordinary citizen, should understand that we have entered a very dangerous river and its first waves were seen during the last session of the PACE. Meanwhile the Armenian government and the delegation focused all its resources on the efforts to have a better resolution on Armenia. The issue of our foreign relations is out of attention. The first document adopted by the UN, which is an anti-historical and illegal document, was included in the list of the documents of international organizations and European institutions. It is not about the responsible people only; each Armenian should feel that responsibility.” He believes that such anti-Armenian provision would not be adopted in Azerbaijan’s resolution if Armenia had at least minimum level of democracy and organized democratic elections it would have an image of a democratic state in the world and would escape from many problems. “I think that the mentioned official energy that was focused on weakening the resolution on Armenia could be used in favor of Armenia and victory of the Armenian resolution of the Azerbaijani and other resolutions. These are interconnected now and we can’t correct that mistake any more, we can’t cover our democratic gap and shortcomings and due to that cover implement our foreign policy. It will not work any more. In a word, if you read my speeches in the last four sessions of the PACE, you will see that the principle of rule of law dominates there. It is not by chance that the neighboring countries are concerned the expressions and ideas in my speech. Everyone should provide its standards in the PACE. Even Azerbaijan, our aggressive neighbor which wants war and which wants to undermine the legal and lawful struggle of Artsakh (Karabakh) for peace. I think it is a pity that now Armenia and the PACE don’t deserve each other and I will do my best to help Armenia to recover its democratic traditions in order not only return to the PACE but also to protect our interests there in a duly manner. What does it mean that it should be noted in the resolution on Azerbaijan as a compensation and performance of good faith on the part of the Euro Union that it is impossible to have state of democracy in Azerbaijan as far as its territorial integrity has not been recovered? If so, Armenia has been historically deprived of its lands, is in blockade now, has had numerous threats to national security, but I wish it doesn’t have any reasons to escape from passing the test of democracy,” he said. Raffi Hovhannisyan says that as far as Armenia does not comply with at least the minimum standards of democracy and does not allow him to go there and protect the image of Armenia there he will not attend the PACE sessions. “Almost all the delegations of Armenia are working with 10% of their potential, and if this problem is solved you will see how we will make both Azerbaijan and other resolutions hear our voice. Currently we can’t say that we can solve any problems, that is why my approach and voice to the state structures is that we will lose too much until we solve that problem and eventually we will lose. Thus neither Puig, Medvedev, Aliev nor Gull can bear big responsibility. This is our responsibility and we shouldn’t look for anyone else to put the blame on,” he said.
Concerning Medvedev’s visit to Baku and the document signed between Azerbaijan and Moscow Mr Hovhannisyan said, “Let’s not talk about the recent strategic cooperation document signed between Moscow and Baku. What is this strategic cooperation like while their approach is this? For this purpose it is essential that all Armenia, including the government, opposition and all people reach democracy immediately. It is not about Raffi, behavior or demarche only. It is about the reputation of the Republic of Armenia and meanwhile a message to the international and other organizations to tell them that they should apply their standards equally too but not apply such standards to Turkey and Azerbaijan differently than to Armenia.” Answering to question why he does not participate in the rallies organized by the opposition Raffi Hovhannisyan said that Armenia has entered into a phase when such issues are not so important any more, “We are standing behind a big rock,” he said. Raffi Hovhannisyan promised to answer to questions concerning the strategy of their party during the upcoming general meeting. He also refused to answer to question whether they agree with the announcement of Levon Ter-Petrosyan that if the authorities don’t undertake serious steps till August 1 he will demand Serzh Sargsyan’s resignation. “I am not the one to forecast. The general meeting will discuss those issues. I think that all we need to change our approaches. If the government cannot make radical changes in the society, political and state affairs, I think that it is just delaying the explosion. We don’t allow the emotions and the wave of injustice explode. This is the reason why I say that the general meeting shall decide this issue and I think that extraordinary elections are one of the methods of solving the problems in this tense environment. If they can reach harmony in the society, I will be happy for that. But as much as I see in the recent period this version is inevitable,” he said.
In answer to a question whether there is any other institution besides the courts to separate criminals from political detainees Raffi Hovhannisyan said, “Now we can debate on the issue how to separate criminals from political detainees. However I assure that Alexander Arzumanyan, Ararat Zurabyan and the deputy chief of the Matenadaran and many other people have been imprisoned for their political views. Certainly people used to be imprisoned for political views during the soviet times, and even they could find criminal articles to charge all the time. It was the same in the Ottoman empire too and they used to decide whether certain people were against their state and if yes they always found appropriate articles to charge with. However, it does not mean that it is lawful. It can be legal, but not lawful. If we don’t draw the separation lines during these weeks, we will have to hear the opinions of the EU commissions. How can we keep silence and agree with such resolutions? They are trying to identify us with Azerbaijan with all factors, both in terms of political detainees and democracy. Now we have an opportunity to work out this problem ourselves. There are no reasons to sentence politicians for their political views and keep them in prisons.” In answer to a question whether the EU co-rapporteurs have taken the role of the lawyers of the Armenian authorities Mr Hovhannisyan said, “To me it is not important. I am far from the idea that they have been paid for that or are their advocates. However, I can surely say that they don’t really realize the real situation of Armenia. It is a work for them, a business trip. They don’t care so much about the future of Armenia.”