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Karabakh war vet says Shushi liberation anniversary overshadowed by
lack of `minimal dignity'
News | 06.05.11 | 13:57
Photolure
Jirair Sefilian
By Siranuysh Gevorgyan
ArmeniaNow reporter
A military commander who played a major role during the battle of
Shushi 19 years ago says the anniversary of the strategic Karabakh
town's liberation by Armenians to be marked this weekend has long
ceased to be a holiday for him.
Lebanese-born Jirair Sefilian led a special military company during
the 1992-1994 hostilities between Armenians and Azerbaijanis in
Karabakh and was directly involved in the May 8, 1992 storm of Shushi
that drove Azeri armed units out of the fortress town that kept the
low-lying capital of Karabakh, Stepanakert, under constant shelling.
The decorated veteran of the Karabakh war who now is a member of a
hard-line opposition faction, Sardarapat movement, explained: `After
the ceasefire, we, Armenians, have failed to create a country where
our people's minimal dignity would be maintained and not trampled
upon.'
At a press conference on Friday, the radical oppositionist cited the
example of Sasun Mikayelyan, a Karabakh war veteran and former
lawmaker now serving an eight-year prison sentence on a conviction
stemming from his purported role in the 2008 post-election unrest.
Speaking about the latest developments in domestic politics, in
particular the emerging government-opposition dialogue, Sefilian
commented that due to some pressures the opposition has managed to get
Serzh Sargsyan to agree to `some cosmetic changes'. According to him,
the president is freeing `hostages' (opposition members imprisoned in
2008 post-election unrest-related cases) because `something has been
promised to him.'
`Three years ago the president was convinced that it stirring a
popular wave was impossible, but the opposite happened. So the chief
dictator, thinking about his reproduction, has attempted to carry out
this process without upheavals. He's managed to come to terms with the
leadership of the Armenian National Congress (ANC). The goal of Serzh
[Sargsyan] is as follows: understanding people's sentiments and
attitude towards himself and agreeing to a dialogue, he first of all
damages the opposition. We will witness the ANC losing its electorate.
The game will finish in the dictator's favor,' Sefilian said, urging
all `reasonable people' in the opposition not to give in to the
government game.
According to Sefilian, the course of the ANC's actions shows that they
are preparing for parliamentary elections.
In an interview with RFE/RL's Armenian Service on Thursday ANC leader
Levon Ter-Petrosyan said `an open dialogue' with the authorities is
underway.
`We openly present our demands, our problems, our programs to the
authorities and the public, and the authorities are openly responding
to them. Of course, [they are responding] not as concretely and
directly as we are saying, but more vaguely, but steps are being taken
and that cannot be ignored,' the opposition leader stressed.
During this week Ter-Petrosyan visited Mikayelyan and another jailed
key opposition activist Nikol Pashinyan. The ANC leader expects all of
his jailed loyalists to be released by the end of this month,
considering it as the only remaining demand to be met before his
alliance could engage in a dialogue with the Sargsyan administration.
From: A. Papazian
lack of `minimal dignity'
News | 06.05.11 | 13:57
Photolure
Jirair Sefilian
By Siranuysh Gevorgyan
ArmeniaNow reporter
A military commander who played a major role during the battle of
Shushi 19 years ago says the anniversary of the strategic Karabakh
town's liberation by Armenians to be marked this weekend has long
ceased to be a holiday for him.
Lebanese-born Jirair Sefilian led a special military company during
the 1992-1994 hostilities between Armenians and Azerbaijanis in
Karabakh and was directly involved in the May 8, 1992 storm of Shushi
that drove Azeri armed units out of the fortress town that kept the
low-lying capital of Karabakh, Stepanakert, under constant shelling.
The decorated veteran of the Karabakh war who now is a member of a
hard-line opposition faction, Sardarapat movement, explained: `After
the ceasefire, we, Armenians, have failed to create a country where
our people's minimal dignity would be maintained and not trampled
upon.'
At a press conference on Friday, the radical oppositionist cited the
example of Sasun Mikayelyan, a Karabakh war veteran and former
lawmaker now serving an eight-year prison sentence on a conviction
stemming from his purported role in the 2008 post-election unrest.
Speaking about the latest developments in domestic politics, in
particular the emerging government-opposition dialogue, Sefilian
commented that due to some pressures the opposition has managed to get
Serzh Sargsyan to agree to `some cosmetic changes'. According to him,
the president is freeing `hostages' (opposition members imprisoned in
2008 post-election unrest-related cases) because `something has been
promised to him.'
`Three years ago the president was convinced that it stirring a
popular wave was impossible, but the opposite happened. So the chief
dictator, thinking about his reproduction, has attempted to carry out
this process without upheavals. He's managed to come to terms with the
leadership of the Armenian National Congress (ANC). The goal of Serzh
[Sargsyan] is as follows: understanding people's sentiments and
attitude towards himself and agreeing to a dialogue, he first of all
damages the opposition. We will witness the ANC losing its electorate.
The game will finish in the dictator's favor,' Sefilian said, urging
all `reasonable people' in the opposition not to give in to the
government game.
According to Sefilian, the course of the ANC's actions shows that they
are preparing for parliamentary elections.
In an interview with RFE/RL's Armenian Service on Thursday ANC leader
Levon Ter-Petrosyan said `an open dialogue' with the authorities is
underway.
`We openly present our demands, our problems, our programs to the
authorities and the public, and the authorities are openly responding
to them. Of course, [they are responding] not as concretely and
directly as we are saying, but more vaguely, but steps are being taken
and that cannot be ignored,' the opposition leader stressed.
During this week Ter-Petrosyan visited Mikayelyan and another jailed
key opposition activist Nikol Pashinyan. The ANC leader expects all of
his jailed loyalists to be released by the end of this month,
considering it as the only remaining demand to be met before his
alliance could engage in a dialogue with the Sargsyan administration.
From: A. Papazian