Nalbandyan’s resignation instead of Sargsyan’s?
"There is a lot of pressure on Armenia and the President of Armenia is under that pressure," says ARF Supreme Body member Armen Rustamyan.
According to him, the pressure is coming from the three OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs. They are demanding unilateral compromises from Armenia in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, but the pressures are unsubstantiated and unjustified.
The ARF refused to hold the scheduled rally today due to the Caspian Airlines' TU-154 plane crash from Tehran to Yerevan. Instead, ARF representatives in Yerevan and other countries are planning to hand a letter to the embassies of the U.S., Russia and France to express their disappointment to the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs.
"The Madrid principles don't correspond to the nature of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and history, don't take into account the will of the people of Karabakh expressed 1991 and 2006 through referendums."
The ARF demands RA Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandyan's resignation to prevent the danger that Armenia faces concerning the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict when Serzh Sargsyan is actually the one responsible for Armenia's foreign policy.
"If you are demanding Edward Nalbandyan's resignation for Sargsyan's steps, does this mean that Nalbandyan is the next scapegoat in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict?" In response, Armen Rustamyan said:
"We simply feel the need for drastic change and we want to give the President the opportunity to make the change. The president still has the chance to turn things around and, most importantly, not sign the proposed document because we truly believe that the document ignores the will of the people of Karabakh."
Rustamyan welcomes Serzh Sargsyan's announcement according to which no document will be signed in Moscow tomorrow, but also said that the ARF would demand Serzh Sargsyan's resignation if any document is signed.
Rustamyan spoke on behalf of the ARF and announced that the updated Madrid principles have pushed the most important issue aside, that is, the status of Nagorno-Karabakh and there is no discussion on nations' right to self-determination.
According to Rustamyan, the ARF is ready to work with any political party, including the ANC for the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Rustamyan believes that all political parties must stand up for Nagorno-Karabakh and not continue any talks without Nagorno-Karabakh's direct participaton.
"Whereas we had a problem with joining Nagorno-Karabakh in 1988, today we face the issue of not being separated."
