“We have numerously mentioned what is unacceptable for us in this process. First it is the connection of the Armenian-Turkish relations with the NKR conflict resolution and secondly it is unacceptable for us to establish a commission of historians,” said at yesterday’s press conference the chair of the People’s Party of Armenia Stepan Demirchyan, who also leads the second place of the proportional list of the Armenian National Congress. He said so in regard of the recent developments of Armenian-Turkish relations and the document signed between the foreign affairs ministers of Armenia, Turkey and Switzerland. By answering the question whether the Kars Treaty or the recognition of the territories of Turkey are acceptable by Armenia he said that Armenia has never brought up any official claims about the territories of Turkey and therefore there is no need to speak about that. “But why is this mentioned in the memorandum? Has Armenia presented any pretentions in this regard? In other words this can also be considered a pre-condition. Besides that there is the issue of the Turkish-Armenian here,” said Demirchyan. "It is necessary that the authorities declassify the so-called road-map," Demirchyan told. He reminded that the Armenian National Congress agrees to the normalization of issues without any preconditions. At the same time, the Congress denounces all attempts aimed at connecting the establishment of historians’ commission and opening of the Armenian-Turkish frontier with the Karabakh conflict. With regard to the ARF-Dashnaktsutyun’s decision to withdraw from the Coalition, Demirchyan said the Congress and the PPA are ready to collaborate with other forces in view of issues of national interest. According to him it is unclear why the contents of the memorandum on the road map is not deciphered in order to avoid extra comments. “As this is a national issue they shouldn’t make surprises and should instead introduce to the public what the contents of the road map is,” said Demirchyan. According to him the political petitions of April 24 were not expedient. He also spoke about the deflection of the Dashnaktsutyun from the governmental coalitions. “I think there were enough grounds to leave the coalition. It is up to them to decide,” mentioned the PPA leader. “We have numerously stated that we are willing to cooperate with all kinds of political powers for the sake of common national issues. Time will show the rest,” stated Demirchyan. Is it possible that the place of the Dashnaks will be replaced by the Armenian National Congress and the latter will make an agreement with the government coalition for the sake of a national consent? When answering this question Demirchyan said these are groundless theoretic conversations. Generally, the HZhK leader thinks the opposition stands a better chance to win the upcoming mayoral election provided that Armenia holds a fair and just election. Asked in which case the opposition will not boycott the election, Demirchyan said: "We don’t long for protests. If elections are nor rigged, people won’t take their word to the street. The authorities themselves pave way for rallies they do not guarantee free and unbiased electoral processes in the country." Stepan Demirchyan is the second on the Congress’s electoral list. “If the election is transparent and fair, the Armenian National Congress has chances to win in it”, stated the chairman of the Armenian People’s Party, adding that already now there are enough grounds to suppose that the government is not going to hold a fair election. Stepan Demirchyan recalled that the opposition has always won in the elections. The Congress stated that this election is a phase in the struggle for establishing constitutional rights in the country but this does not mean that in case the ANC wins it will not pay attention to the problems of the city, stated Demirchyan. And, in response to the question who is the main competitor for the ANC the Republican Party or the Prosperous Armenia Party, Stepan Demirchyan answered that no one should be underestimated in an election. When speaking of the possibility of extraordinary national elections Demirchyan mentioned that in the event of the victory of the opposition in the mayoral elections the government will stand no chance to hold extraordinary elections. On the other hand, Demirchyan noted that Armenia appeared in a state of political, social-economic and moral-psychological crisis. “Let us not forget about the negative impact, which the oligarchic criminal system has. The economy is still kept in the hands of a group of people and realistic steps are necessary to be taken to save the situation,” stated Demirchyan.
