Thursday, 17 September 2009
Members of Armenia’s nationalist party, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun), began their six week hunger strike outside the foreign ministry to protest normalization talks between Turkey and Armenia.
Last month, both countries agreed to proceed with the necessary steps to establish full diplomatic ties and bilateral relations. Before submission to their respective parliaments, political debates/discussions will be held over a six week period culminating with Armenian President Sarkisian’s visit to Turkey for the FIFA World Cup 2010 qualifier between the two countries. During his visit, protocols are to be signed and submitted for ratification.
Nearly fifty party members (also known as Dashnaks) are participating in the hunger strike thus far, which called for the resignation of the country’s foreign minister. Protesters were especially upset about the possible inclusion of an intergovernmental commission to examine the events of 1915, which Armenians want recognized as ‘genocide’.
According to the Armenia Now news outlet, ARF’s proposed amendments to the protocols expressly call for the text to state that relations are established “without preconditions”. The party also wants the right of nations to self-determination mentioned along with territorial integrity. Regarding the establishment of a sub-commission, members want it to be re-phrased so that its mandate does not question the events of 1915 as being anything other than a ‘genocide’.
Ayla Yetkin (JTW)
