“What will your signature be worth?”
October 12 will mark the end of the six weeks that were foreseen for inter-political consultations on the Turkish-Armenian protocols. According to ARF Bureau representative Hrant Margaryan, something has changed during these past six weeks. Margaryan says that average citizens and high-ranking officials in Armenia and the Diaspora are thinking about and discussing the same topic.
Hrant Margaryan didn't touch upon the actual dangers of the protocols during today's forum entitled "Pre-signed protocols and Turkish-Armenian relations: state, national interests and challenges", but preferred to touch upon the atmosphere in the country.
"Why are discussions turning into confrontations, mutual insults and separation? Why is the danger of a split threatening all of us?" asked Hrant Margaryan and tried to answer in his words, "trying not to find people to blame or further intensify the situation."
"On one occasion, I said that the genocide issue is the open nerve of the Armenia people and we should not try to touch it because the counter-influence will be unpredictable. We must take this into account," said Margaryan.
From the start of the discussions, it was announced that the protocols are not subject to change and they will be signed. What kind of a discussion is this? Nobody was considerate enough to announce once that they wouldn't sign if it turned out that the people are against the protocols. We are finally asking you: what will your signature be worth if the people are against it?
The "no discussion, we will sign" formula had its counter-influence in Armenia, but especially in the Diaspora. People viewed the stage of discussions as formal and rebelled because there was no other way. The people became unrestricted. This was not good for us, but this was the counter-influence of the "open nerve".
According to the ARF representative, they have not lost hope and it is still not the end because there is still a road until the ratification.
"We are going to fight and are even ready to find a way out of this situation with the authorities. But if they don't treat us properly, we will not think twice about going until the end, that is, change of power. Change of power is not an end in itself. It is finally time for the people to bring the party that will not disappoint the people," said Margaryan.
