Serzh Sargsyan's responds to former president’s open letter saying he is ready to invite him for a tête-à-tête talk

YEREVAN, February 20. / ARKA /. Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan responded today to an open letter by the first president Levon Ter-Petrosian in which the letter criticized some aspects of the Pan-Armenian Declaration adopted recently by a high-level government commission set up to coordinate the upcoming commemorations of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

In the February 17 letter Ter-Petrosian described the Declaration as ‘a shameful document’ that will not only kill the attempts to win the sympathy of the international community, but will prompt also some friendly states to stop supporting Armenia.  

Ter-Petrosian said also he planned originally to publish the letter on February 13 but it appeared in media only four days later because of the unfolding confrontation last week between Sargsyan and the leader of the Prosperous Armenia party Gagik Tsarukyan. Ter-Petrosian also proposed that an advisory committee be established to specify the position of Armenia on the Genocide issue. 

The Pan-Armenian Declaration unveiled by president Serzh Sargsyan on January 29 appeals to UN member states, international organizations, all people of good will, regardless of their ethnic origin and religious affiliation, to unite their efforts aimed at restoring historical justice and paying tribute to the memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide. 

It also expresses the united will of Armenia and the Armenian people to achieve worldwide recognition of the Armenian Genocide and the elimination of its consequences, preparing to this end a file of legal claims as a point of departure in the process of restoring individual, communal and pan-Armenian rights and legitimate interests. 

In his response letter president Sargsyan strongly rejects Ter-Petrosian's assessment of the Declaration, 'not because of its being backed by representatives of almost all structures and communities representing Armenians worldwide.

'I reject your assessments because the process of drafting the Declaration involved professionals from all around the world. They are the people who professionalism I trust,' he says. 

President Sargsyan also categorically rejects Ter-Petrosian’s claim that the Declaration runs counter to the Constitution of Armenia and international legal documents, but adds that Ter-Petrosian's proposals could also be discussed because “there will be numerous proposals” to the commission before and after April 24, when the centenary of the Genocide is to be marked.

'You say that there is a need for a tête-à-tête meeting for that purpose. I see no problem,” Sargsyan says, stressing that the internal political reasons cited by Ter-Petrosian for the impossibility of the meeting are “inappropriate.” 

'When you consider that you have a need and a desire to meet to discuss the events planned for the centennial anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, I am ready to send a corresponding invitation," says Serzh Sargsyan.-0--