As hundreds of Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF-Dashnaktsutyun) supporters start the traditional procession with lanterns in the center of Yerevan to observe vigil the evening before official Genocide rememberence day, the question remains – will the party opt out of the ruling coalition over Armenian – Turkish – Swiss announcement on normalisation of relations released April 22nd?
In their statement released today the party harshly criticized the announcement of Armenia – Turkey deal. RFE/RL has more:
“For us it is absolutely unacceptable to normalize relations with Turkey at the expense of a viable and sovereign existence of our state and the state-national rights of generations. Being committed to these principles, we regard as unacceptable and condemnable the signing by Armenia’s Foreign Ministry on April 22 of a joint statement with Turkey.”
The influential nationalist party said the announced “roadmap” for normalizing Turkish-Armenian relations marked a “negative change” in Armenia’s foreign policy. Dashnaktsutyun’s leadership will therefore “discuss in the coming days the expediency of its participation” in President Serzh Sarkisian’s four-party coalition government, it said.
