InternationalLevon Ter Petrossian says he is ready to work with President Sargsyan
A farewell speech or a proposal to cooperate?
He considers irredentism to be the creed of a stateless nation
Published: Friday November 20, 2009
Yerevan, February 26, 2008: Levon Ter-Petrossian, left, who disputed his defeat at the presidential polls, suggested at a Yerevan rally that President Elect Serge Sargsyan, right, should resign and leave the country. The president elect, at a rally elsewhere in Yerevan, appealed to all the former presidential candidates to join in a coalition government. Most agreed in the name of national unity. Photolure
Related Articles
Levon Ter-Petrossian, Armenia’s first president, is now running for mayor
Ter-Petrossian, allies regroup, revise tactics
Now, after a year and a-half, Mr. Ter-Petrossian is making the case for cooperation with the authorities. It is very unlikely that President Sargsyan will respond to that request. It is now clear to everyone that Mr. Ter-Petrossian no longer has serious support among the people, whereas the president, thanks to the Armenia-Turkey process, has been able to secure serious support from the international community.
In September 2007, after a 10-year silence, Mr. Ter-Petrossian returned to politics; many were surprised by his expressed desire to meet with the leaders of the ARF, some of whom he had imprisoned during his years in power; and he had closed down the party and its media. During that meeting, they asked him whether he had returned to politics for good. Mr. Ter-Petrossian answered with humor, "Yes, now that I have returned, that means I have returned; I am not going to write the third volume of the Crusades."
Whether Mr. Ter-Petrossian, a historian, will now write the new volume will interest his supporters, who obviously are not in awe of their leader's initiative to recognize the legitimacy of Mr. Sargsyan.
