“The Dashnak thinking was best summed up by one of the participants of the hunger strike [in Yerevan’s Republic Square against the Turkish-Armenian agreements,]” editorializes “Aravot.” “He said, ‘No relationship with Turkey until they recognize the genocide, until they recognize the [1920] Sevres treaty, until they recognize Karabakh’s independence.’ Note that there is a slight contradiction here. If we are given the territories [in eastern Turkey] envisaged by the Sevres treaty, we won’t need any border opening as the Republic of Armenia would stretch to the other side of the Arax [river.] Of course, it can be concluded that what the Dashnaks want is a chimera. But it would be wrong to disrespect the faith, conviction and dedication of rank-and-file party members.”
That conviction, continues “Aravot,” are the reason why any alliance between Dashnaktsutyun and Levon Ter-Petrosian’s Armenian National Congress (HAK) would be unnatural. The paper says the two forces espouse “opposite ideologies” and any far-reaching cooperation between them would upset many of their supporters.
“Hayk” sees only an “imitation of discussions” in Armenia on the agreements reached with Turkey. The opposition paper says that the authorities resort to fraud to claim strong public support for their policy on Turkey. It also claims that Dashnaktsutyun’s protests were stage-managed by the government to deflect public attention from other pressing issues facing the country.
“Hayots Ashkhar” defends President Serzh Sarkisian’s decision to visit major Armenian communities around the world and explain the Turkish-Armenian to their leaders. “The more views are expressed on such a crucial issue, the less likely we will be to make mistakes,” says the pro-presidential daily. “After all, as the Armenian saying has it, ‘One brain is good, two brains better.’”
“Chorrord Ishkhanutyun” questions the wisdom of those visits, saying that the Armenian government should have foreseen the Diaspora’s reaction to those agreements and already explained Yerevan’s stance to Diaspora Armenians. The paper does not see how Sarkisian will substantiate his acceptance of a Turkish proposal to jointly study the 1915 mass killings of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey.
(Aghasi Yenokian)
That conviction, continues “Aravot,” are the reason why any alliance between Dashnaktsutyun and Levon Ter-Petrosian’s Armenian National Congress (HAK) would be unnatural. The paper says the two forces espouse “opposite ideologies” and any far-reaching cooperation between them would upset many of their supporters.
“Hayk” sees only an “imitation of discussions” in Armenia on the agreements reached with Turkey. The opposition paper says that the authorities resort to fraud to claim strong public support for their policy on Turkey. It also claims that Dashnaktsutyun’s protests were stage-managed by the government to deflect public attention from other pressing issues facing the country.
“Hayots Ashkhar” defends President Serzh Sarkisian’s decision to visit major Armenian communities around the world and explain the Turkish-Armenian to their leaders. “The more views are expressed on such a crucial issue, the less likely we will be to make mistakes,” says the pro-presidential daily. “After all, as the Armenian saying has it, ‘One brain is good, two brains better.’”
“Chorrord Ishkhanutyun” questions the wisdom of those visits, saying that the Armenian government should have foreseen the Diaspora’s reaction to those agreements and already explained Yerevan’s stance to Diaspora Armenians. The paper does not see how Sarkisian will substantiate his acceptance of a Turkish proposal to jointly study the 1915 mass killings of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey.
(Aghasi Yenokian)