Heritage party member’s exclusion from the Armenian delegation to PACE means that fear controls parliamentarians’ activities both in Armenia and Europe, Heritage parliamentary group member Raffi Hovannisian said.

“Such mentality is to blame for the existence of political prisoners and unpunished extermination of Armenia’s cultural heritage,” he told a news conference on Monday, when commenting on MP Zaruhi Postanjyan’s expulsion from the delegation.

“It’s nonsense when a person, publicly denying the Armenian Genocide can be elected to senior post in European institution. Such appointments send a challenge to Armenia and its politicians,” he said.

As to Heritage–Dashnaktsutyun collaboration, the parliamentarian said it has to expand, as well the entire opposition field. “I’m not sure about Dashnaktsutyun, but Heritage will remain opposed to ratification of Protocols, with or without reservations,” Mr. Hovhannesyan concluded.

Founded in 2002, Heritage, a National Liberal Party, is national by its roots, liberal in its economic principle, and an advocate of the democratic system of governance and due process for its citizens. The party’s objective is the development of Armenia as a democratic, lawful, and rights-based country that anchors its domestic and foreign policies in the nation’s sovereign interest. During the party’s Third Congress on May 30, 2005, Raffi K. Hovannisian was elected chairman. The other eight members of the party board were elected by secret vote.

The Armenian Revolutionary Federation Dashnaktsutyun is an Armenian political party founded in Tiflis (Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia) in 1890 by Christapor Mikaelian, Stepan Zorian, and Simon Zavarian The ARF has the largest number of members from the political parties present in the Armenian Diaspora, having established affiliates in more than 200 countries.

The ARF Dashnaktsutyun led the effort toward the establishment of the first Armenian Republic in 1918 and was the party in power for the duration of its existence. Following the Sovietization of Armenia in 1920, the ARF-Dashnaktsutyun was banned by the Communists and its leadership exiled.

In the Diaspora, the ARF Dashnaktsutyun fought Soviet rule over Armenia and championed the cause of Armenian rights and independence; it played a leading role in organizing a social and cultural framework aimed at preserving the Armenian identity.

The ARF Dashnaktsutyun officially re-emerged in Armenia during the dissolution of the USSR, in 1990.

On December 28, 1994, the activities of the ARF-Dashnaktsutyun were “temporarily suspended” by the Armenian authorities. In view of the political nature of the anti-ARF interdictions by the Armenian authorities, the ARF continued to operate in Armenia. On February 9, 1998, less than a week after the resignation of the then president Ter-Petrossian, the Justice Ministry lifted the ban on the ARF Dashnaktsutyun.

The Protocols aimed at normalization of bilateral ties and opening of the border between Armenia and Turkey were signed in Zurich by Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian and his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu on October 10, 2009, after a series of diplomatic talks held through Swiss mediation.

On January 12, 2010, the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Armenia found the protocols conformable to the country’s Organic Law.