“Ter-Petrosyan preferred the NKR over power”
Historian Ashot Sargsyan rates RA First President Levon Ter-Petrosyan's 1998 resignation as a step taken by a high-class state figure. "He said everything in his very brief and meaningful text. He had two options. First, he could have exercised his constitutional powers and dismissed heads of corresponding bodies, which would have led to unpredictable developments. The First President's concerns over the country's stability, especially the NKR conflict can be clearly seen in between the lines of his text. The second option was for Ter-Petrosyan to accept what the people who demanded his resignation were asking for, which was to put the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict on hold. That was very easy. Robert Kocharyan did that 10 years later and Ter-Petrosyan could have done it ten times better, but he would have left the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in a bad, complicated situation for the succeeding president."
Ashot Sargsyan doesn't share the view that Ter-Petrosyan shouldn't have resigned. "Only Ter-Petrosyan knew what could have happened, if he didn't resign and the rest of us can only make assumptions. At the time and now, besides the political instability within the country, another very important issue facing Armenia was the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Let me remind that Armenia registered success when the situation in Azerbaijan was unstable and a political figure like Levon Ter-Petrosyan couldn't take that risk. He preferred resignation, but he also called on the society to be alert and aware that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution is a necessity and that he is ready to step down from power for that resolution."
Is the state of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict worse than it was in 1998? In response, Mr. Sargsyan said: "In terms of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, at least in the documents adopted by international organizations, Armenia has registered huge regression. What Levon Ter-Petrosyan was saying ("Armenia will not get tomorrow what it is being offered today by asking") turned into a reality. Unfortunately for Armenia, there is a huge difference today."
Ashot Sargsyan doesn't link Armenia's damage in terms of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to how many liberated territories are demanded from Armenia. "That is the mathematical part of the issue and a small sector. There exists the issue of the NKR's security and longevity that sums up other issues. They were solved at a much higher level according to the plan of 1997 than it is possible today."
Levon Ter-Petrosyan's resignation led to the emergence of forces whose slogan was "Not one piece of land", but today, those forces are overtly talking about the return of at least 5 out of 7 territories. In this sense, Ashot Sargsyan deemed it necessary to remind the following: "The forces that came to power were the ones that had presented a map, a plan according to which Armenia was supposed to be 8,000 square kilometers. Nobody remembers or talks about that. At the end of the day, politics is not rhetoric, but it is the art of possibilities; otherwise it can become an adventure and trouble for the people."
Ashot Sargsyan also denied the rumors going around that the HAK led by Levon Ter-Petrosyan has stopped or weakened its struggle. "The HAK has not stopped and never will stop the struggle. Only 10 percent of that struggle is seen in the form of mass events. Many people don't see 90% of that struggle, but those who are part of the struggle or are standing by our side are certain. I can surely say that the HAK currently has 3 times more strength and opportunities than it did before the 2008 presidential elections."
