Tsarukyan: Dashnaktsutyun party’s withdrawal from ruling coalition to weaken Armenian authorities

ЕРЕВАН, 27 апреля. /АРКА/. Gagik Tsarukyan, leader of Prosperous Armenia, one of governing parties, Dashnaktsutyun party’s withdrawal from the ruling coalition will weaken Armenian authorities.

On Monday, Armenian Revolutionary Federation Dashnaktsutyun announced its withdrawal from Armenian ruling coalition.

The party quitted all ministerial seats and the vice-speaker post in the National Assembly as well as chairmanship in parliamentary standing committees because of discord over foreign policy.

Tsarukyan said that unlike Dashnaktsutyun, his party doesn’t think the establishment of a dialogue between Armenia and Turkey without preconditions can hobble international recognition of the fact of Armenian Genocide and settlement of Karabakh conflict.

He also stressed that, if any precondition is put forward for establishing Armenian-Turkish relations, Prosperous Armenia will quit the ruling coalition as well.

“If approaches contradict our principles, we will withdraw from the coalition. However, President Serzh Sargsyan takes steps favorable for the nation and the country and will never make something harmful for state interests”, Tsarukyan said.

He remembered that the head of state has repeatedly said that Armenian-Turkish relations were improving without preconditions.

Tsarukyan also didn’t rule out that Dashnaktsutyun has taken that step as part of its election campaign in the coming election to Yerevan municipal committee.

He said that the party has its traditions electorate 10 to 15%.

“Participation in the coalition doesn’t mean joint approaches to all issues. Both governing and opposition parties should decide together what to do in favor of the nation”, Tsarukyan said.

The ruling coalition was formed on March 21, 2008.

Dashnaktsutyun’s fellow coalition members were Republican Party of Armenia, Prosperous Armenia and Orinats Yerkir.

On Wednesday, Armenian Turkish and Swiss foreign ministries issued a joint statement saying the sides had reached an accord on a wide range of issues related to improvement of Armenian-Turkish relations. M.V.-0---