The Social Democrat Hunchakian Party (SDHP), a member-party of the Armenian National Congress, made a statement addressing Armenians, citizens of Russia, calling on the latter to “join your vote to really patriotic resident of Russia who will vote for Vladimir Putin.”
Aravot.am asked ANC coordinator Levon Zurabyan to make a comment on this statement, trying to also clarify whether it really reflected the ANC position. Although this statement has been actively discussed since yesterday and the statement itself was published by mass media, Levon Zurabyan said, “First of all we have to check whether that statement is real, second such an issue has not been discussed in the Congress at all.”
In regard to the same issue, Aram Manukyan, the chairman of the executive committee of the Pan-Armenian National Movement (PANM), said only that he had no comment, he hadn’t read the statement. In response to a question of ours following the logic of the SDHP statement whether the PANM would endorse Vladimir Putin’s candidacy for the president of the Russian Federation, Aram Manukyan was honestly confused at first and then added, “Every nation chooses its leader itself, it is clear. I think it is an interference with the internal affairs of another country. Those who are born in Armenia, but are citizens of the Russian Federation will have to decide themselves whom to elect and how. Such a statement is an interference with another country’s internal affairs and I think no political force or figure has the right to such interference,” stated Hovhannes Hovhannisyan, the leader of the Liberal Party, a member-party of the ANC.
However, the force making such a statement is your fellow member-party of the Armenian National Congress. What do you think of that? “I repeat no force has the right to make such statements. It is an interference with another country’s internal affairs, which, I think, is against international law,” added Hovhannes Hovhannisyan, in response to our question.
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