Statement of the Initiative of the Four
20:33, July 24, 2016 | Announcements, Joint
On July 22, 2016, RA President Serzh Sargsyan, first president of RA Levon Ter-Petrosyan and the Supreme Board of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Party issued almost simultaneously statements of literally similar content on the armed actions taken by ‘Sasna Tsrer’ group members on July 17, 2016.
The Statements above consider it fairly inadmissible to resolve the domestic policy issues by use of violence and force.
At the same time, the 3 Statements above have no mention of the mass and illegal deprivation of liberty of RA citizens by the law enforcement agencies in July 17-22, 2016, accompanied by violence, beating, physical and psychological pressure and deprivation of access to legal protection and medical aid.
Considering that the current tense domestic political situation is of concern for the country and statehood, the authors of the 3 Statements assume absolutely no responsibility, among others, for the causes that led to the current crisis situation by preferring not to address those causes at all.
The authors of the 3 Statements urge the members of ‘Sasna Tsrer’ armed group to lay down their weapons with no mention of the legal and political climate in the country and with no mention of the issue of releasing the political prisoners.
At the same time, Serzh Sargsyan guarantees that “the further outcome will strictly comply with the Constitution and laws of the Republic of Armenia” by admitting thus that he is personally liable for the non-strict compliance with the Constitution and laws of the Republic of Armenia.
The allegations in the 3 Statements on inadmissibility of prolonged way-out of the situation and a requirement for a reasonable solution in fact constitute a demand, according to which the group members should surrender. Otherwise, we assume that force will be used and the group members will be arrested or neutralized.
We believe that despite their both belated and inadequate approaches, the authors of the 3 Statements reached a political agreement on using force methods.
We believe that the use of force may not be justified by any grounds, including releasing the public of the tension of hostage situation.
Not only Serzh Sargsyan but also all the authors of the 3 Statements will be immediately responsible for the inevitable casualties as a result of using force methods and the increased public tension following it.
We hereby urge to renounce the use of force and resolve the situation exclusively by negotiations and political methods.
We believe that the authors of the 3 Statements reached a political agreement on the key issues of the country’s foreign policy. It is clear that any unilateral concession in the context of the resolution of the Artsakh issue may threaten the security of the population of Artsakh. At the same time, there are signs that the process may be accompanied exclusively by the deployment of peacekeeping troops by the Russian Federation, which will make the security of Artsakh more vulnerable and threaten the sovereignty of the Republic of Armenia.
Initiative of the Four:
Avetik Ishkhanyan
Artur Sakunts
Zaruhi Hovhannisyan
Stepan Danielyan
The Statement is open; anyone is welcome to join.