“The speech of the Catholicos of the Armenian Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia was a speech of real Armenian leader, of Armenian believer, it was nice. Bako Sahakyan spoke briefly, it was great. I don’t know what the other two talked about, I’m sorry, but perhaps I fell asleep, because taking someone else’s writing and reading is not honourable, we are one of the most talented nations, if not the most talented. Why doesn’t Catholicos of Cilicia read?”, said Zareh Palian, a Diaspora Armenian public figure, businessman from the United States, participating in the 6th Armenia-Diaspora Conference.
In response to the question, whether this conference is formal, he said, “This can be very useful if a practical approach is adopted. Actions must forerun words, there is no such thing here”.
He said he does not trust the Armenian authorities: “Suppose I become the president of Armenia, if I must appoint a minister, if there is plunder, corruption, injustice, criminal inactivity in that minister’s nature, how can I force him to work for his nation, not for his pocket? If that’s in his nature, and I’m sure it’s in many people, for today there is a widespread belief that honest person is naïve, a despicable fool. On the other hand, person who displays all the negative features is a smart fellow. Where will this situation take us? Don’t you think we’re on the way to an abyss?”.
Talking about the three presidents of Armenia, Zareh Palian said, that he has supported the first two presidents: “Everyone supported Levon Ter-Petrosyan, then Kocharyan took the office because he was the chairman of the Artsakh Defense Committee, since Artsakh is a baby in my life, I have begun this movement, I have always supported it, I counted that Kocharyan would not sell Artsakh. I haven’t dealt with the third, with Serzh Sargsyan at all. The first two visited the US, asked me to welcome them, Kocharyan asked me to present his positive features. I did, but then, when I found out that he was taking a bribe too, which I did not know, I immediately stood back. The third is heir godson”.
Hripsime JEBEJYAN
