Tsarukian Beats Retreat Calls Off Opposition Rally

YEREVAN — Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) leader Gagik Tsarukian has signaled his readiness to settle problems “through peaceful, lawful and political means” after reportedly meeting with President Serzh Sarkisian on Tuesday in a bid to mend fences following an acrimonious exchange of accusations over the past few days.

Tsarukian’s spokeswoman Iveta Tonoyan disseminated a statement on behalf of the PAP leader today in which he presented his viewpoint on the situation.

“As I have said repeatedly, I have always seen the task of all of us and myself personally in being useful for our people, our country. In order to solve problems existing in the country we need not wage wars against each other, but need to peacefully work without insulting each other, to point out all existing shortcomings, find solutions and implement them. Only this way it is possible to end the situation that we have in our country today.”

“Unfortunately, in the past few days the processes in our country took a completely different course. This is a direction leading to nowhere good. It is not difficult to imagine what will happen in only a few weeks. So, if the situation persists, no one will benefit from it and first of all our people will not benefit from it. It cannot continue like this, afterwards we all will be blaming each another,” he continued.

The “war” between Sarkisian and Tsarukian broke out last week after, Sarkisian, apparently enraged by Tsarukian’s “ultimatum” to give up the constitutional reform process or face large-scale street protests, lashed out at the PAP leader at a meeting of senior members of his ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) on February 12. In a speech full of derogatory descriptions of Tsarukian, including his infamous “Dodi Gago” nickname, Sarkisian described the man as “evil” for the country and effectively ordered his exclusion from the local political process.

Amid the tensions on Tuesday news came about the Sarkisian-Tsarukian meeting during which, according to some sources, the two decided to deescalate the situation. But, judging from statements by senior RPA members, Sarkisian still appears to be uncompromising as far as Tsarukian’s political future is concerned.

In the statement disseminated by his spokesperson, the PAP leader indicated that he wanted things to return to the political domain and to avoid “possible provocations and clashes” the PAP has decided to call off the opposition rally slated for February 20.