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ASALA, Armenian opposition warn over Turkey thaw
"I do not believe the Armenian authorities are capable of convincing the Armenian public that unilateral concessions on two fronts, namely Armenian-Turkey relations and the Karabakh conflict, are necessary," Giro Manoyan, the international secretary of the opposition Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF), also known as Dashnaktsutyun, told Reuters.
Turkey and Armenia are pursuing a roadmap to establish diplomatic relations, open their border and end a century of hostility stemming from the World War I mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks. But Sarksyan faces resistance from opponents at home and the huge Armenian diaspora abroad, who say Turkey should first recognize the killings as genocide. They are also worried by Turkish demands that Armenia make concessions in its festering conflict with Turkish ally Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh before Armenian-Turkish accords are ratified by Parliament.
"The Turkish government will use the ratification process in the Turkish Parliament as leverage to try to pressure the Armenian side to give in to Azeri-Turkish demands regarding resolution of the Karabakh conflict," said 46-year-old Manoyan.
Sarksyan denies any link. But analysts say he is under pressure to offer something to seal the pact, which would ease Armenia's economic woes and boost Turkey's credentials as a modernizer in the West. Manoyan's party, which has strong support in the diaspora, quit as a minority partner in the ruling coalition in April. It holds 16 seats in the 131-seat Parliament. The Heritage Party, with seven seats, shares its position on the thaw.
With 94 seats, Sarksyan's remaining partners enjoy a strong majority and can force through the accords. But Armenia is no stranger to political street protests, the last coming in March last year when police and opposition protesters clashed over Sarksyan's election. Nagorno-Karabakh cost the former president, Levon Ter-Petrosyan, his job in 1998 when he was forced to resign under pressure from opponents angered by concessions he offered to Azerbaijan over the mountain region.
ASALA warns too.
Meanwhile, the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA), which staged several terrorist attacks against Turkish diplomats serving abroad in the past, warned that their struggle will go on. “We want to warn everyone -- from the authorities to the local criminal leaders -- that we will not give up our struggle for national dignity,” Alek Yenigomshyan, member of ASALA and of the Miatsum (Unity) initiative, said, as quoted by the Armenian agency NEWS.am.
The statement was intended for those putting obstacles to the signature-gathering campaign against the Armenian-Turkish protocols and the Madrid Principles.
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