Ter-Petrosyan's Response to Article on Azerbaijan's Demands

Former President of Armenia Levon Ter-Petrosyan responded today to an article published in the "Haykakan Zhamanak" newspaper regarding Azerbaijan's demands.

"The response relates to a publication of a personal/family media outlet of the Prime Minister, which is essentially a rejecting answer to the proposal to initiate a dialogue between the opposition and the government. The President appreciates this publication for revealing Azerbaijan's demands regarding the expected resolution of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations. This is essentially nothing more than the Azerbaijani draft text of an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace treaty, the details of which, as mentioned in the First President's interview on September 26, were until now only known to the Prime Minister and a narrow circle within the upper echelons of power. Naturally, Armenia has also prepared a similar draft, the details of which are not disclosed, and rightly so, based on political confidentiality considerations.

It is clear that similar drafts are also being prepared on both sides in the diplomatic interactions aimed at peace in Armenian-Turkish relations. In this case, certainly, no great surprises are expected. The Armenian-Turkish peace treaty will not fundamentally differ from the Zurich protocols signed between Davutoğlu and Nalbandian on October 10, 2009.

Therefore, it should be noted that the need for a platform initiated by the Supreme Patriarch between the authorities and the opposition can be considered exhausted, yet this does not devalue the persistent efforts of the Patriarch, which, due to the publication referred to in this response, have already yielded results.

Incidentally, the First President of Armenia finds it necessary to emphasize that thanks to the Patriarch's initiative, a significant event occurred: the first serious political debate took place in Armenia since 1998.