Topic of the week – Armenian President’s visit to Syria

PanARMENIAN.Net - After the official ceremony of reception, Presidents Serzh Sargsyan and Bashar Al-Assad had an official meeting. At the meeting the Syrian President expressed confidence that presidential visits would be an additional incentive for deepening relations between the countries. After the tete-a-tete meeting of the Presidents, an enlarged meeting was held. Serzh Sargsyan and Bashar Al-Assad positively assessed the current level of political dialogue between Yerevan and Damascus.

President of Armenia thanked his Syrian counterpart for the support that Syria had offered to the Armenian nation in critical moments and noted that the Armenian Syrian community is a reliable bridge for friendship between the two nations.

The Presidents also touched upon the issue of implementing the agreements achieved during President Bashar Al-Assad’s visit to Yerevan and attached great importance to expanding cooperation between Armenian and Syrian business owners, which would lay grounds for intensifying bilateral trade. After the meeting, the Presidents issued a joint statement.

During his visit, the Armenian President also visited the desert of Deir ez Zor. In the chapel of Deir ez Zor erected in memory of 1.5 million victims of the Armenian Genocide President Serzh Sargsyan particularly said: “I am here today since I could not but be here. It is the greatest grief of my nation that has brought me here, the grief of the first genocide of the 20th century that was the greatest disgrace of a civilized humanity. Up to this moment, in the 21st century, the brand of that disgrace still remains on the foreheads of all those who have turned the denial of the evident facts into their policy, have turned it into a bargaining chip, into a lifestyle and norm of behavior.”

“One of the most monstrous acts of the great tragedy took place in the desert of Deir ez Zor, and the particulars of it is impossible to articulate in human language,” the President said. “Nor am I going to do that since these particulars are well-known even to those who publicly deny the veracity of the Genocide. Bereft of home and property, bereft of children and parents, bereft of health and the last hope, and finally bereft of their homeland, these people were doomed to lose the last thing they had – their life, in pursuance of the state orchestrated and meticulously developed plan of extermination. Quite often historians and journalists fairly compare Deir ez Zor with Auschwitz saying that “Deir ez Zor is the Auschwitz of the Armenians”. I think that chronology dictates us a more accurate wording: “Auschwitz is the Deir ez Zor of the Jews”. Only a generation later the humanity witnessed the Deir ez Zor of the Jews. Today, as the President of the Republic of Armenia I am here to ask: “Where and when will our Nuremberg be?”

On March 22 the Armenian government held the first meeting of the commission, responsible for organization of the events dedicated to the 95th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. The meeting was chaired by Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan. “Together with the National Assembly of Armenia, civic organizations and the Public Council, we plan to organize events dedicated to the 95th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide up to snuff,” declared the Prime Minister, opening the sitting. According to the Prime Minister, it would be reasonable to already start preparing the events dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Genocide. Tigran Sargsyan particularly highlighted the necessity to shoot feature films and documentaries on the Armenian Genocide.

At the end of the sitting the Prime Minister instructed the cabinet members to submit all their suggestions at the earliest possible date, noting that all of them would be included in one broad project.

On the same day Official Yerevan commented on Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s recent threat to deport 100.000 illegal Armenian immigrants from Turkey. “Speaking about illegal Armenian immigrants, the Turkish Prime Minister seems to have forgotten millions of his compatriots illegally earning their living throughout the globe. It’s regretful that on the eve of the 95th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, Turkish authorities foster not European but Ottoman values,” stressed Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia, Arman Kirakosyan.

President Serzh Sargsyan’s statement issued in Damascus about the possible return of territories in the NKR security zone caused vigorous reaction in political circles of Armenia. “President Serzh Sargsyan’s statement about the possible return of territories around the NKR is unacceptable for me and contradicts the Nagorno-Karabakh constitution. This statement also contradicts the approach according to which the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic must herself decide her status by direct involvement into the negotiation process,” declared MP of the parliamentary faction of ARF Dashnaktsutyun, Artsvik Minasyan on March 23, commenting on RA President Serzh Sargsyan’s statement made in the interview to the Syrian newspaper Al-Watan.

In the interview to the Syrian newspaper Al-Watan, the Armenian President particularly said: “When the people of Nagorno Karabakh get a real opportunity to exercise their right to self-determination, then Armenia may consider the return of security area regions around NKR as a mutual concession.” At the same time the President noted that one-sided concessions in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict only deepen the existing dangers and threats. According to Serzh Sargsyan, the key idea of the notion “mutual concessions” is reciprocity. “I have been repeatedly stating that for the regulation of any conflict it is essential to look for a solution in the causes of the conflict and not in the consequences,” the President said.

Early elections are possible only when the political crisis in the country cannot be overcome. “ARF Dashnaktsutyun does not rule out such a prospect, but for us it is most essential which political force and with what program comes to power through elections,” Armen Rustamyan, Representative of the ARF Dashnaktsutyun Supreme Body told a joint news conference in Yerevan held with Vice-President of the Socialist International, Mary Titizyan.

In the words of Rustamyan, elections can be effective only when the Armenian society is ready for them. “If we are not yet ready to hold normal elections, I am personally against the idea of early elections, as they will only “correct” the mistakes of the authorities, i.e. nothing will change for the better,” Rustamyan noted.

According to him, the trouble is that the Armenian society has not yet realized the value of their vote. “If an elector sells his vote, he has no right to complain of corruption in the country,” Rustamyan explained.

This week Armenian political forces mainly commented on the Armenian President’s statement made in Syria. “In the process of regulation of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict the Armenian side found itself in a very difficult situation. Azerbaijan has already agreed to the reviewed Madrid principles. Besides, Azerbaijan has also declared about Armenia’s approval of the renewed principles, to which Official Yerevan has not yet given a response,” stressed Hovhannes Hovhannisyan, Chairman of the Liberal Party of Armenia.

Wednesday, March 24, the Armenian Ministry of Defense hosted the conference of interdepartmental committee regulating the RA defense strategy revision process. The conference was chaired by Co-Chairs of the committee - National Security Council secretary Artur Baghdasaryan and Minister of Defense Seyran Ohanyan.

The 3rd stage of RA defense strategy revision works were summarized and further activities planned during the session. The latter are called to define further work of the administrative bodies involved in the sphere of defense.

As always, the Party “Heritage” slammed the interview that Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan gave to Syrian Al-Watan daily. “Talks on liberated territories should be held by Nagorno Karabakh only, while the Armenian President has no right to issue statements instead of NKR,” declared Armen Martirosyan, Chairman of the Heritage party parliamentary faction. “Besides, the liberated territories are indivisible part of Nagorno Karabakh and they were taken away from her by the decision of the Caucasus Bureau on passing Artsakh to Azerbaijan,” Martirosyan noticed.

In his turn, MP from the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) Sukias Avetisyan noted that in the negotiation process the status of NKR needs to be determined, first of all based on the right of nations to self-determination, while all other issues, including the possible return of the territories are matters of the future. “The Armenian President will speak for NKR until the latter starts participating in the negotiations. When Nagorno Karabakh becomes a full participant in the talks, she can speak for herself,” Avetisyan said.

Starting the year 2010, Armenian Genocide Museum Institute (AGMI) will consider events dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Genocide, AGMI director Hayk Demoyan told a news conference in Yerevan.

Demoyan announced the list of events to be held in commemoration of the 95th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. “On April 19-20, Yerevan will host an international conference. On the first day the problem of genocides will be discussed, followed by the discussions on cultural genocide on the following day. On April 22, the museum will hold an exhibition entitled “Armenian Genocide in Headlines”, featuring original editions of foreign newspapers on the front pages of which appeared articles on the Armenian Genocide. According to Hayk Demoyan, about 60 newspapers and magazines are going to be presented. “These exclusive materials have been collected over the past year in various auctions and are going to be exhibited in one of the halls of the museum on April 23,” informed the Director of the Armenian Genocide Museum Institute.

The Director also noted that for the first time in the museum’s history, the scholarship after Raphael Lemkin, a Polish lawyer of Jewish descent who first introduced the term “genocide” in 1943, is established for foreign students who would like to major in the field of Armenian Studies focusing on the Armenian Genocide.

On March 26, Czech Defense Minister Martin Bartak paid an official visit to Armenia.

During the visit the Czech Defense Minister met with Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and visited the memorial to the victims of the Armenian Genocide, Tsitsernakaberd.

During talks with Defense Minister Seryran Ohanyan, an agreement on military cooperation was signed. Mr. Bartak said that the Czech Republic, as a NATO member country, is willing to train the Armenian military personnel.

On March 25 RA President Serzh Sargsyan and the country’s high-ranking officials commemorated Armenia’s former Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan, who passed away 3 years ago. President Sargsyan laid a wreath to Andranik Margaryan’s tomb in Komitas Pantheon.

On March 26, one of the leaders of radical opposition, member of the political council of the party “Respublica” Suren Surenyants stated that the longer the process of the Karabakh conflict settlement lasts, the more disadvantageous options are introduced for Armenia. “There are forces in Armenia that support mutual concessions, while others are for preservation of the status-quo. I don’t see prospects for status-quo; the problem should be decided on the basis of mutual concessions,” Surenyants noted.

On the same day the Armenian Ministry of Defense denied Azeri media reports on alleged violation of the ceasefire by Armenian armed forces in Tavush Region, near the Village of Movses. “The reports are untrue,” the press office of the Ministry said in the issued statement.