Armenian National Congress representative David Shahnazaryan believes that the Turkey-Armenia Protocols are a done deal.
"It is over for Turkey and the international community, but the Armenian authorities are in search of finding ways to partially extenuate the consequences of their errors. What they are trying to do now through legislative reforms is another error. What is it that the current legislation impedes them to do?" asked David Shahanzaryan.
He believes that Turkey can be blamed for everything, but the fact remains that Turkey was honest from the outset. "Before and after the signing of the Protocols in Zurich, Turkey has said several times that the Turkish-Armenian border will not be opened without the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement. In the beginning, Armenian authorities said that that was Turkey's internal threat, but now they realize the real danger."
Shahnazaryan recalled that the Armenian authorities used to say that if the Turkish parliament didn't ratify the Protocols by December 7, Erdogan wouldn't visit Washington and wouldn't meet with Obama. "That was perfectly wrong in terms of politics. What we said actually happened. The U.S. is not going to pressure Turkey, but the opposite. I exclude U.S. recognition of the Armenian Genocide in any case of development of events and Turkey knows that very well. The U.S. will never take a risk to have Turkey as the second anti-American country after Iran. Forget about that."
Shahnazaryan doesn't think that the Constitutional Court will acknowledge the Protocols as anti-constitutional on January 12 because it will use that to corroborate that Serzh Sargsyan and Edward Nalbandyan signed an uninformed, anti-constitutional document and the CC is the current authorities' attaché.
Shahnazaryan sees no progress in the resolution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and regretted to say that Armenia has not registered any progress in 2009. According to him, the most serious threat to Armenia in the past 10 years is the oligarchic system that has been formed. According to Shahnazaryan, the "revelations" of the events of March 1 once again proved to Armenian society and the international community that a coup d' etat took place in Armenia during and after the 2008 RA presidential elections. "Resolution N0038 of the Minister of Defense issued on February 23 is evidence of seizure of power through force. That command is a very serious basis for instigating a criminal case. It will surely be instigated in due time."
As an achievement in 2009, Shahnazaryan sees the development of the Congress as an institutional opposition and the greatest failure as the presence of 15 political prisoners.
Touching upon the possible political developments in 2010, Shahnazaryan assured that there is no alternative to change of power in Armenia. He shares the view of leader of the People's Party of Armenia Stepan Demirchyan according to whom the cease of mass events must be moderate. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Shahnazaryan called on everybody to participate in the January 8 rally and didn't exclude that that rally would be the start of activation.
Personal triviality
Armenian National Congress representative David Shahnazaryan evaluates the demand for Nikol Pashinyan's 8-year sentencing as brilliant evidence of the current regime's inhumanity. "It is a brilliant example of brutality that shows that the authorities don't have any other measures for talking with the society besides repression," he told "A1+" today.
Shahnazaryan sees personal triviality as the reason for the authorities' actions toward Pashinyan. He has no doubt that the authorities will do everything possible and will use falsifications, threats and attacks during the January 10 elections to be held at the #10 precinct. "We will use our forces and we'll see what happens."