Key decisions are made outside Armenia
To the order of Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, the Protocols on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Turkey have been forwarded to the National Assembly for further ratification.
The Heritage Party announced on Friday that the day the Armenia-Turkey Protocols officially appear on Armenia's National Assembly agenda and thus become a topic for discussion in parliament, Heritage Party will rally its supporters in front of the parliament's gates to voice its protest against the Protocols.
A1+ had an interview with the head of Heritage Party Stepan Safaryan.
Mr. Safaryan, Heritage has expressed its discontent with the Protocols and criticized Mr. Sargsyan's decision. Didn't you expect such a turn of events?
We wanted to believe that the head of our republic would stick to his words and would not ratify the Protocols as he had promised months before. A few months ago Mr. Sargsyan promised to rescind the documents if Turkey failed to ratify or tried to slow down the process. Moreover, Mr. Sargsyan promised to instruct his staff to amend the Law on International Agreements and withdraw Armenia's signature. Mr. Sargsyan should have been loyal to his pledge. We cannot simply believe that the country's head is capable of displaying such a frivolous stance - saying one thing and doing another. We wonder how they could have sent the Protocols to the National Assembly after all.
Has the National Assembly already received the Protocols? What are you going to do next?
As far as we know the Protocols are already in parliament. The Heritage Party is going to request the NA Speaker to listen to the opinion of all the twelve parliamentary commissions. During the passing year we have heard numerous enticing statements on the prospects of the border reopening and its favorable influence on bilateral relations, agriculture, trade and move.
When will the National Assembly start discussing the Protocols?
I think that like many other decisions this one will be made by outer forces. Judging by the authorities' words and behavior which have always contradicted each other, we can say that the key decisions are made outside Armenia. The authorities simply publicize them after the visit of each top-level foreign official.
Two days ago Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan announced that "the time has matured to ratify the documents." Is there any sense in rallying before the parliament building after the statements of the country's heads?
We are determined to mobilize people so that they will be able to voice their stance on the Protocols. We have proposed a better variant to the Prime Minister and Government, i.e. to put the documents to a general referendum before the final ratification and let people decide their further fate. I think it would be fair to listen to people.
Which forces do you expect to join your move? Do think it will be easy to take people to the street?
More than ten forces and a number of NGOs have expressed criticism against the Protocols. We do not seek to set up a political unit or champion our party interests. This is a pan-national issue which should be agreed upon with the whole nation. Parties can simply make the issue more efficient as they represent the interests of different strata of public. We have already witnessed people to go to the street on October 10 and march to Tsitsernakaberd. I think that it is upon political parties to orientate crowds in the right direction. This time, we expect everyone's support.
