Armen Rustamian, a senior member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun), said on Wednesday he hoped the accusations made by Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian, whom Dashnaktsutyun had urged to step down, did not refer to his party.
Answering RFE/RL’s question regarding the recent calls for his resignation over “a failed foreign policy”, in particular in the continuing Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiations over Karabakh, Nalbandian described them as “pointless noise” and “speculation” over matters of national importance.
“On the one hand, they can perhaps be explained by some naivety, to put it very mildly. On the other hand, perhaps by attempts to fish in troubled waters,” Nalbandian said on Monday.
In response to the minister’s retaliation, Rustamian told RFE/RL that Dashnaktsutyun “has no such purpose.”
“We have never used, nor are going to use national issues to solve any narrow party problems. On the contrary, the logic of all our statements is that our priority is to form a united front no matter what partisanship,” he said.
Rustamian, however, again called the situation ‘alarming’ and blamed it on foreign policy blunders.
“We think it would be right of the Foreign Ministry to assist in the efforts on forming a national front,” said Rustamian.
In view of the “drastically changed situation” in the Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiations, Rustamian said: “When the so-called Madrid principles are officially disclosed at such a high level, it already ushers in a new stage in the negotiating process. It is only logical and natural that the society should be engaged at this stage and all should be able to express their opinions clearly and, most importantly, point out what is unacceptable in this process.”
Answering RFE/RL’s question regarding the recent calls for his resignation over “a failed foreign policy”, in particular in the continuing Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiations over Karabakh, Nalbandian described them as “pointless noise” and “speculation” over matters of national importance.
“On the one hand, they can perhaps be explained by some naivety, to put it very mildly. On the other hand, perhaps by attempts to fish in troubled waters,” Nalbandian said on Monday.
In response to the minister’s retaliation, Rustamian told RFE/RL that Dashnaktsutyun “has no such purpose.”
“We have never used, nor are going to use national issues to solve any narrow party problems. On the contrary, the logic of all our statements is that our priority is to form a united front no matter what partisanship,” he said.
Rustamian, however, again called the situation ‘alarming’ and blamed it on foreign policy blunders.
“We think it would be right of the Foreign Ministry to assist in the efforts on forming a national front,” said Rustamian.
In view of the “drastically changed situation” in the Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiations, Rustamian said: “When the so-called Madrid principles are officially disclosed at such a high level, it already ushers in a new stage in the negotiating process. It is only logical and natural that the society should be engaged at this stage and all should be able to express their opinions clearly and, most importantly, point out what is unacceptable in this process.”