Ter-Petrosyan: “Either serious turning point or specification”
SPEECH BY LEVON TER-PETROSYAN
AT THE RALLY HELD ON 23 SEPTEMBER 2011
Dear compatriots,
It seemed as though all had been said about the bandit, criminal and illegitimate regime in Armenia, and that one would rarely find anything else to add. However, shocking news dispels that impression and gives us the chance to look at the issue from a totally different angle. I'm referring to the scandalous releases of Wikileaks, which shows that the United States knew more about the essence of Armenia's government than we did. In other words, thanks to careful and detailed reports prepared on a regular basis, the U.S. diplomats accredited to Yerevan were perfectly aware that
1. Not only did the 2008 presidential elections not meet international standards at all, but they were also orchestrated by large-scale electoral violations, stuffings, electoral bribes, assaults, the use of administrative resources, the horrible exaggeration of number of voters, the creation of unequal opportunities for the candidates' campaigns that had an essential impact on the results of the vote.
2. The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights Office (ODIHR) observatory mission had given an evaluation of the February 19 presidential elections under the pressure of OSCE and PACE parliamentary delegations and as a result of a consensus reached between certain OSCE-member states.
3. When taking a decision on the 2008 presidential elections, the RA Constitutional Court was also subject to pressure, but this time, it wasn't on the part of foreign powers, but the Armenian government. According to U.S. diplomats' information and observations, the court had been inclined to uphold the appeal for the results of the elections, but had been forced to take a different decision due to threats and Robert Kocharyan's demand (Wikileaks, 08YEREVAN199, 226).
4. In addition to the presidential elections, the 2008 elections for district head of Kentron district in Yerevan and the 2009 elections for Yerevan's council of elders were massively and systematically falsified.
5. The government established in Armenia is in its nature a kleptokratia with Robert Kocharyan and Serzh Sargsyan at the top.
6. Thanks to its close relations with the authorities, the oligarchs have also obtained a tremendous political weight and have become the base of the bandit regime and one of the most basic instruments for falsifying elections.
7. The principle of independent courts is fully breached and distorted.
8. All electronic means of information, that is, all radio and television stations are under full control of the government.
9. The authorities are creating illegal hindrances for the opposition's even limited propaganda and are denying their appeals for holding rallies with groundless explanations.
10. In relation to the 2008 presidential elections and the events of March 1, hundreds of opposition members were politically persecuted for their political actions and were sentenced to prison for different periods for phony cases and under groundless charges. The trials have taken place with violations.
11. Even though the U.S. and the European Union-member states, as well as official representatives of international organizations have never used the term "political prisoner" to describe citizens sentenced to prison for the presidential elections and the events of March 1, the words "political prisoners" and "political detainees" have been mentioned in the diplomats' reports on the mentioned people.
12. During the presidential elections, especially after the murders of March 1 and the declaration of a state of emergency, in addition to opposition figures, the opposition's supporters and even average citizens have been politically persecuted as well. Many people have been fired, starting from nine diplomats and the prosecutor general and ending with university professors, teachers, employees of budgetary institutions and private companies.
Many of you are surely aware of all this, except for certain details that are not new because America's notion of Armenia's reality almost falls in line with the Armenian National Congress's notion. Be rest assured that the confidential reports sent by the embassies of the European Union-member states in Yerevan have the same content, meaning that the U.S. has been aware of all the defective phenomena in our country, starting from the falsification of elections and the corruption and ending with the violations of democratic liberties and human rights. The West has also been well aware that Serzh Sargsyan didn't win in the 2008 presidential elections and seized power by force, but closed its eyes and did everything to legitimize and strengthen his power.
A detailed study on the Wikileaks documents shows that the most important, if not the only issue that concerns the U.S. is the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations. That topic runs like a red line in the numerous reports sent from the U.S. Embassies in Yerevan, as well as Ankara and Baku. It shows that America doesn't have any other strategic interest in Armenia, besides, perhaps the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement. However, it still looks at that from the angle of normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations.
Mentioning all this, I don't doubt the true goal of the United States and the European Union. I am fully convinced that the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement are in the interests of not only international security and cooperation, but first and foremost the interests of countries and nations in the region, including Armenia and the Armenian people. The error in the policy led by the United States and the European Union countries is not the goal that they are pursuing, but the road that they are taking. They have laid an exclusive card for Serzh Sargsyan in those processes without taking into account the importance of Armenian society's opinion and the need for the people's support in solving those issues.
Any deal made at the price of democracy and human rights is doomed to failure if not in the short run, then definitely in the long run. The United States' and the European Union's unreserved support for Serzh Sargsyan has not faciliated, but has complicated the implementation of their major goal, and proof of that is the labyrinth created for Armenian-Turkish relations and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement.
The United States and European Union countries must finally understand that the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations, the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement, thesolution to Armenia's domestic issues such as eradication of corruption, the restoration of legitimacy and the improvement of the social-economic state are only possible in the case of the formation of truly elected, law-abiding and trustworthy authorities.
Regardless of the West's behavior, the Armenian people will in no way adapt to the thought of having a bandit, uncivilized government in its own country. The Wikileaks revelations instill more conviction and determination to free the country of the bandit regime and restore constitutional order in the country. Leading the pan-national movement with responsibility, the Armenian National Congress has always aimed at reaching its goal through peace, legally, by engaging in dialogue with the authorities and trying to get out of the political crisis in a civilized manner. However, it seems as though the word "civil" is strange to the authorities, and they only understand through pressure, which is also mentioned in the U.S. diplomats' reports (Wikileaks, 09YEREVAN137).
Thus, from this day forth, we must add our pressure and organize more frequent rallies, as well as force the authorities to fulfill the following demands through other mass measures:
1. Hold snap presidential and parliamentary elections by the end of this year.
2. Make essential amendments in the RA Electoral Code before the elections by including in them our suggestions.
3. Reveal the ten murders of March 1 and start criminal persecution against those responsible within three months.
4. Release political prisoner Tigran Arakelyan and quash the cases instigated against the seven ANC youth activists.
5. Lift the illegitimate ban on street trade in Yerevan.
6. Declare as invalid the decision on demolishing kiosks in Yerevan.
7. Terminate the perversion of the architectural image of Yerevan and ban the construction of tall buildings in the capital.
8. Prohibit by law the practice of the persecution of high-ranking officials, National Assembly deputies and local self-government body heads against the media and journalists.
It is clear that meeting the first two demands is harder. So, we deem it necessary to declare that we are not maximalist and that we are ready to treat the authorities' reasonable mutual concession seriously. As I had mentioned in my previous speech, there will be a serious turning point or a final specification in the issue of overcoming the political crisis in Armenia in September-October, and you will see that during our next rally to be held on September 30.
