Vahan Hovhannisyan refuses to travel to Turkey
Head of ARF-Dashnaktsutyun faction Vahan Hovhannisyan has rejected an invitation by Wilton Park to participate in a conference to be held in Turkey from March 24 to 27.
This is the third conference to be organized in Turkey by Wilton Park. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmed Davutoglu is scheduled to make an opening speech.
"I regret to reject you invitation but we do not participate in any event organized by Turkish officials or held in the country, given Turkey's denial of the Armenian Genocide. I am convinced that the Turkish Foreign Minister will appreciate our principled stance," Vahan Hovhannisyan said in a letter sent to Wilton Park on March 11.
"We are for the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations. But we saw Turkey abusing Armenia's goodwill and benevolence. Turkey still keeps Armenia in blockade and displays a biased attitude towards Karabakh issue. Therefore, we do not want to provide Turkey with new levers to continue its fraudulent and insidious activities," said Hovhannisyan.
In conclusion, Vahan Hovhannisyan thanked Wilton Park and expressed desire to participate in conferences and initiatives that would feature participants of civil society.
