“People are not diplomats, people are expressing their opinions, it’s another matter that, in this very case, the protest was not the mere opinion of the people, but organized by the ARF and the ARF youth, which is already more manipulated situation”,- so answered Gevorg Ter-Gabrielyan, Director of “Eurasia Partnership” Foundation, to the question of Aravot.am whether it was right from the diplomatic point of view to welcome Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu with protest actions, as later Turkey could present it to the international community that allegedly they want to improve Turkish-Armenian relations, but Armenians did not want.
To remind that while the session of the Foreign Ministers’ Council of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation held in the “Armenia Marriott” hotel, the activists of ARF “Nikol Aghbalyan” Union and “Sargis Tkhruni” Students’ Union of the Social Democrat Hunchakian Party, with the calls “No to Genocide”, “No blockade of Armenia”, were demanding from Turkey to recognize the genocide. Mr. Ter-Gabrielyan stressed, “If ARF had not organized the protest, people might have not come out.” On the other hand, he said, “If there is such a group among people that during the visit of any Turkish official wants to remind that if the latter is coming to Armenia, he should admit that Turkey has not yet recognize the Armenian Genocide; there is no question of wrong and illogical. The protest is an expression of the opinion of people, and nowise, no one, no official body has the right to ban it. In any case, whatever the situation is, I think it is the right of people to gather and organize a protest rally, which can not be restricted. In that sense, there is no difference in what case it takes place.”
Tatev HARUTYUNYAN
