K. Manoyan: "Obama cannot cajole Armenia"
Kiro Manoyan, Head of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Bureau's Hay Dat and Political Affairs Office thinks that the Armenian authorities did not realise the danger of the Armenian-Turkish Protocols during the signing ceremony.
"Today the authorities are beginning to realize its side-effects, though not fully," said Kiro Manoyan
The ARF representative disapproves of Serzh Sargsyan's decision on suspending the protocols. "The danger will persist unless Armenian authorities withdraw the signature from the Protocols," he said
"With its decision to freeze the documents and wait for Turkey's steps, Armenia simply enables Turkey to impose pressure on us. I strongly believe that Serzh Sargsyan wanted to withdraw from the documents but he succumbed to the pressure of superpowers and sufficed with the protocols' suspension."
Regarding Serzh Sargsyan's meeting with his Russian counterpart Dmitri Medvedev, Mr. Manoyan said, "The President went to Moscow to inform Russian authorities about his decision. As I said, Armenian authorities yield to foreign pressure. The USA is greatly interested in Armenian-Turkish reconciliation and "is constantly intervening with our affairs."
The United States and France praised Armenia on Friday for not annulling the Western-backed agreements to normalize its relations with Turkey despite Ankara's refusal to implement them at this juncture. In this regard, Mr. Manoyan said, "They praised Mr. Sargsyan for not ending the peace process and withdrawing Armenia's signature."
Concerning Mr. Obama's failure at pronouncing the word "genocide" on April 24, Kiro Manoyan said, "It was not fair. We must call things by their name. Mr. Obama termed the events of 1915 as "Meds Yeghern," but we needn't get elated at the phrase since it has different interpretations in the USA. We also use the phrase "Meds Yeghern" but not in order to avoid its synonym "genocide".
"Obama meant "tragedy" by saying "Meds Yeghern". According to the international right, "genocide" is a legal term while "Meds Yeghern," which is translated "tragedy," is not. Obama tries to cajole us but his imagination about the Armenian massacres greatly differs from ours. It is very important that the U.S. President utter the word "genocide". If Washington gives a green light, the other countries will recognize the Genocide by chain reaction. Armenia and Turkey have a conflict today and Obama's stance is significant for other countries to follow the U.S. President's example."
