July 15, 2009

HERITAGE LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT

Mr. Serzh Sargsyan
President of the Republic of Armenia
Yerevan, Armenia

Dear Mr. President:

The Heritage Party is deeply concerned over the joint statement recently issued by the presidents of the three co-chairing countries of the OSCE Minsk Group. In fact, with this statement, the Madrid Principles were disclosed and their anti-Armenian essence were exposed. We note that this development confirmed our earlier concern with respect to the points stipulated in the Moscow (“Meiendorf”) Declaration, and, specifically, concerning the point that contained a commitment to resolve the Artsakh issue in the framework of the Madrid Principles—which, at the time, were “unknown” to the people, but, in reality, they were very well known. The Heritage Executive Board’s decision, reached on 11 November 2008, immediately and unequivocally had condemned this Declaration.

Also, by considering the fact that Georgi Petrosyan, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Mountainous Karabagh (MKR), recently stated that the MKR’s authorities had not taken part in the discussions concerning the “Madrid Principles,” and, therefore, bear no responsibility for those principles, adding, also, that “Mountainous Karabagh’s authorities have stated, on many occasions, that any and all decisions are baseless without the will and accordance of the MKR.” Heritage, consequently, affirms that the assurances given so far by the authorities of the Republic of Armenia, including yourself, to the effect that, on the negotiations table, they also represent the MKR’s interests, do not correspond to the reality. The ruling political force, and yourself personally, are fully accountable for deluding the people of Armenia and Artsakh to this day.

If the result of the talks, which you and the previous authorities have conducted for numerous years, is the “Madrid Principles,” which you have approved—firstly on 2 November 2008 by signing under the Moscow Declaration, and, recently, by reaffirming this position, through the words of the country’s foreign minister Eduard Nalbandyan—and which do not at all factor in either the historical or legal realities concerning Artsakh, or even the results of Azerbaijan’s aggression and Karabagh’s fight for survival, and are solely based on unilateral concessions by the Armenian side and, in actual fact, on total capitulation, the whole responsibility, therefore, of conducting talks in an anti-Armenian course, likewise falls upon the former authorities and, also, yourself, who continue their modus operandi, in the same way.

Reminding you of the internationally documented fact that, during the OSCE Budapest Summit in 1994, Mountainous Karabagh was recognized as a separate part of the conflict, hence the bilateral meetings and “conversations” held since 1998, can not be considered talks, pursuant to the documents of the very same Budapest Summit, unless the MKR, as a direct side to the conflict, is directly engaged in them. And also, since the MKR’s legally elected leadership is empowered to discuss demarcation issues with Azerbaijan, and Armenia can merely assist in resolving this matter between the MKR and Azerbaijan,

The Heritage Party hereby demands:

1. The ruling out of the Republic of Armenia authorities’ separate participation in any and all format talks, concerning the regulation of the Karabagh issue, where solely matters dealing with the MKR’s empowerment are discussed without the participation of the MKR’s legal authorities, and, moreover, the exclusion of the signing of any documents.

2.  The immediate commencement, by the Republic of Armenia, of the process of formal recognition of the Mountainous Karabagh Republic.

If you consider the fulfillment of these demands to be impossible during your tenure, we demand that you hand in your resignation and designate new presidential elections, which will enable to form legitimate authorities that, being less susceptible to outside pressure, will more effectively serve national and state interests, in Armenia and in the international arena alike.

We expect your response prior to the Moscow meeting, to be held on 17 July 2009.

Respectfully, and on behalf of the Heritage Party’s Executive Board,

Anahit Bakhshian
Chairwoman of the Board

15 July 2009
Yerevan