‘The HHD has never changed its questions and viewpoints,’ says Saghatelyan

The opening of the Armenian-Turkish border and the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations should be viewed as part of a general package. This was stated by Ishkhan Saghatelyan, a member of the ‘Armenia’ faction and Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, during a briefing with journalists.

‘We are generally not against the establishment of these relations, but the question is—at what cost and at whose expense? We believe that this government is incapable of even protecting the interests of the Republic of Armenia, even if it wanted to the most. If they say that negotiations with Turkey have taken place in the past, then negotiations have also taken place with Azerbaijan, but we did not have concessions or losses back then. Turkey is the same Turkey, but Armenia is not the same Armenia after the war; thus, they are leading the country into a very dangerous cycle. In the first case, as a result of the authorities’ negotiations, we suffered significant losses of the territories of Artsakh, while in this case, the existence of Armenia is being called into question,’ said Saghatelyan.

The Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly noted that the HHD has never changed its questions and viewpoints, regardless of whether it has been in power or in the opposition. ‘We have approached the political situation of the Republic of Armenia with understanding, in the sense of conducting negotiations with Turkey without preconditions. We did not set any preconditions, such as the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by Turkey, after which the negotiations should take place. However, any concession and any satisfaction of a precondition is unacceptable from our side, regardless of which government is in office,’ Saghatelyan stated.