Canadian Armenians have refused to welcome Alen Simonyan’s delegation. ARF Canada Central Committee issues statement

ARF Canada Central Committee issued a statement on the visit of Armenian National Assembly President Alen Simonyan to Canada.

On the margins of the development of interstate relations, the visit of Armenian National Assembly President Alen Simonyan and the NA delegation to Ottawa is planned for Sept. 25–30. It is worrisome to learn that the delegation headed by Alen Simonyan includes only members of the ruling Civil Contract (KP) party, without opposition MPs. The Opposition deputies of the Armenia-Canada parliamentary friendship faction of the National Assembly of Armenia were deliberately left out of this delegation. This phenomenon itself is a violation of democratic regulations.

Canadian Armenians have no intention of welcoming the visit of the current administration of Armenia, which violates the basic principles of democracy and fundamental human rights. The present regime’s approach to using disproportionate force against opposition protesters goes against the principles of democracy. All of this is reprehensible for the people living in Canada, the flagbearer of democracy.

As a result of the anti-national policy adopted by the administration, there is an unforgivable retreat toward our vital national interests. Searching for ways to bring the Artsakh issue back to the international agenda, Alen Simonyan, who is disrupting the work of the Armenian Cause Committees, and the KP administration, with consistent concessions and the illegal and indulgent process of border delimitation, have become the henchmen of the Turkish-Azerbaijani political agenda.

We are convinced that the present regime of Armenia has no right to decide the fate of the status of Artsakh and to predetermine the sovereign borders of Armenia, and therefore, once again condemning their nation-destructive line, the delegation of the regime arriving in Canada in the coming days is considered unwelcome.