ARF to leave coalition?
The Armenian Revolutionary Federation released the following statement:
"Normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations has been a key issue on Armenia's state-political agenda for the past months. The Armenian Revolutionary Federation has stated several times that the two countries may establish friendly ties after Turkey's recognition of the Armenian Genocide and the restoration of the Armenian people's rights. The eradication of the blockade and establishment of diplomatic relations without preconditions may be the first steps to be taken. The normalization of relations with Turkey at the price of our independent statehood and the state and national rights of our future generations is absolutely unacceptable for us.
Staying true to these principles, we condemn the signing of the joint statement made by Turkey and the Armenian Foreign Affairs Ministry on April 22 and consider it unacceptable.
We believe that the signing of the document, which comes a day before the tragic events of April 24, causes a blow to Armenia and the interests of the Armenian people and comes amid the recent anti-Armenian statements made by Turkish against leaders, the statements regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the preconditions set forth by Turkey.
Recording the fact that this process assumes a negative shift in the course of Armenia's foreign policy, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation will soon discuss the issue of whether it is appropriate for the party to remain in the coalition or not," as stated in the statement.
