Kocharian Cannot Meet My Father in This World, I Am Sure He Knew This, A. Hovhannisyan

The former Minister of Justice of Armenia and former member of the Republican Party, Arpine Hovhannisyan, has responded to the statements made yesterday by MP Andranik Kocharian.

It should be noted that Kocharian declared yesterday that he is not going to apologize to Arpine Hovhannisyan if he offended her father, and that he is willing to meet and talk with him.

Hovhannisyan replied that her father passed away long ago. Below is her response:

“For two days I have been thinking about how to respond to Andranik Kocharian's statement. Time was needed for me to establish harmony and peace within myself, so I wouldn't allow myself unnecessary expressions. Political activity, especially the change of power, has tempered me and made me resilient to any attacks; moreover, nothing bad, base, or disgusting surprises me anymore. However, this case gave me a lot to think about.

The issue was not so much the offense directed at me but rather the value system and the type of people that could become fashionable after A. Kocharian's statement, as it always gives birth to and spreads the type of people that are characteristic of it.

And now, after long contemplation and literally, with the support of thousands of people, my response to A. Kocharian should be gratitude and appreciation. One must always learn from people what it means to be and, more often, what it means not to be.

• I appreciate A. Kocharian's brilliant masterclass on what a man should NOT be like, what a political figure should not be, and the attitude of a man toward a woman or a political figure towards a political opponent, to whose substantial arguments he has no substantive response.
• I thank A. Kocharian for revealing a certain number of men of his kind and, of course, the same number of women supporting them, as well as for exposing the hypocrisy of those women who just a day ago talked about the unacceptability of offense, spread fake screens on my behalf, and formulated what hypocrisy and decency are, along with other lofty things, but today were silent.
• I thank this gentleman because his statement will allow us to differentiate between those whose words have value and those whose do not. When individuals from the My Step bloc wrote to me in support, my response was: as a person, I sincerely appreciate your attitude, but institutionally there should be an assessment from the political force that corresponds with its leader's value system.

The route to the destination is very clear: the establishment of an ethics commission. The “Legal Way” NGO has already initiated this process, and all MPs, including those from My Step, will have the opportunity to SHOW how they relate to such statements.

By the way, I advise some of my fellow party members not to act with cosmic hypocrisy when talking about the culture of insults. I have seen the first messenger of that culture in front of my house since May 2018 and onward. I see this every day; if you don’t know the place, just ask.

When talking about boomerangs, remember this and… be silent. It ALWAYS operates flawlessly and will continue to do so.

• Most of all, I sincerely appreciate A. Kocharian’s refusal to apologize. They say hypocrisy is the most unforgivable of all sins when repentance itself is false. By apologizing, he would have deceived himself.
• I appreciate A. Kocharian’s action because it further reinforces my conviction to never yield, never to be like those who offend me, remaining faithful to my principles and value system.
• And most importantly, I am grateful to A. Kocharian for showing that after darkness, light always follows. For two days, thousands of people (real and not fake, as the genre's hero claims, bright individuals loved in life, not those in the margins) have supported me, awakening an immense hope that not everything is lost, that there are people in our society who know what dignity is, who are free from hypocrisy, and who can provide heartfelt support.

Dear and strong women, respected and worthy men, friends, former and current colleagues, just unknown people, LIVE, for you stood up against all kinds of ‘ifs’, ‘buts’, political preferences and made your voices heard. THANK YOU. I especially want to highlight Sasun Mikayelyan's attitude.

P.S. Mom, forgive me for going through all this. You are my strength and pride.

P.P.S. A. Kocharian cannot meet my father in this world—quite a long time ago. I am sure he knew this.”