LEVON TER-PETROSYAN'S SPEECH AT JULY 2 RALLY

Dear compatriots, As you know the next rally of the Armenian national congress is scheduled for September 18 , but we promised you to hold other rallies too in case it is necessary. Today's rally is one of them, the reason of which is of course the release of the great part of the political prisoners. Of course, first of all, we cannot disagree with the common assessment that the release of the prisoners is a great victory, which was acquired first of all, with the help of the heroic struggle of people, for which I would like to thank you. I would like also to bow my head in front of all the political prisoners, who are in freedom and who are still in prisons. They are our modern heroes. None of them was broken down and did not declare themselves guilty, none of them gave testimonies against their friends, no one is going to renounce their further struggle. From this point of view, one cannot but admire NIkol Pashinyan's brave step, who presented to the Armenian law enforcement bodies yesterday expressing his readiness to share the destiny of his friends in jails. I am sure that people will stand up for one of its worthy sons Nikol and other political prisoners, and will not calm down until all of them come back to their homes and families. And in the end, it is impossible not to express our respect for the young participants of the "political strolls" in the North Avenue. Without all these factors, it would be too difficult for the Armenian National Congress to organize and head the impressive events, the rallies. Many tried to deviate us form the Constitutional way of struggle, many accused us of indecisiveness. I have to admit that it was not easy to resist the daily repressions, but in honor of the HAK I have to say that we managed to avoid all the dangers. This would not be possible, if the activists and the supporters of the all-Armenian national movement did not trust the leaders of the HAK, regardless the complaints of many people. There were people, who urged us to follow the example of the Georgian opposition; the most dangerous are not those people who are our apparent rivals, but those who pretend being our supporters. The release of the political prisoners will not be complete, if we did not view it from the other side too, from the point of the ruling coalition. Since the release of the political prisoners is considered a victory of the Armenian National Congress, it should be considered also the first defeat of the Armenian criminal government, after the March 1 slaughter. It is a defeat first of all, from the point that the government did not manage to implement its main aim-to destroy the opposition, even through violence. The governmental propaganda machine and the servants of the regime are trying to represent the amnesty as the representation of the good will of the government. It could be considered such one last year maybe. But now, it may be called only hopeless yielding determined by the international repression, in particular, in order to avoid the PACE punishment. It is above all doubt that this repression would lack, if the Armenian movement has not shown for a whole year its decisiveness to struggle up to the end, and if the outrageous Yerevan Mayor Election were not held, which aroused the anger of the international society, there would be no need to yield. This election promoted the amnesty to some extent. In case of a separation between the government and the society and in case of presence of political prisoners, the amnesty is usually declared not as a humane but a political act. And a political act is planned to solve political issues, that is to soften the internal tension, to restore the national solidarity, to express readiness to launch a dialogue, etc. If the amnesty does not apply to all the political prisoners, this means that it does not solve any political issue, but just the contrary, it deepens it. The impression is created that Serge Sargsyan is ready to reconcile with the Turkish and Azerbaijani people at the cost of sacrificing national interests, but not with his own people. It is obvious that nothing is changed in the relations of the government and the society after the amnesty. On the contrary, the keeping a part of the political prisoners in prisons has more deepened the huge separation. The release of the political prisoners is already a small victory for those pessimists, who think that it is a hopeless struggle. This shows at least that the regime is not so powerful, and the national movement cannot but reach it goals. The important is not to get tired, not to get disappointed, the rest is a matter of time.

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