Armenian president's statement distorted - Agos weekly editor

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan's statement made at his meeting with the participants in the Armenian Language and Literature Olympiad in Tsakhkadzor was distorted, which, in turn, caused misinformation, said Rober Koptas, Editor-in-Chief of the Istanbul-based Agos weekly.

The Armenian leader's statement contained a message about peace and democracy, he stressed. "In his statement Serzh Sargsyan emphasized the country's prosperity rather than its area. It was a message of peace. We think that Sargsyan's statement was distorted by the media. Before asking his question, a student was speaking of Tigranes the Great and Armenia under his rule. Then he asked if it was possible for Armenia to be like Armenia of that period. In his response, President Sargsyan was speaking of prosperous Armenia, but not of getting western Armenia or Mount Ararat back. He stressed the fact of reaching civilized nations' level and said: 'This is your generation's duty.' President Sargsyan asked the student's question in a diplomatic and peaceful way. He did not say that 'we have taken Nagorno-Karabakh and we leave it to you to take Mount Ararat.' President Sargsyan's message did not at all mean that," Koptas said.

Immediately after the reports on the Armenian leader's meeting with students, Turkish and Azeri mass media spread the information that President Serzh Sargsyan allegedly said: "We have taken Nagorno Karabakh, and we leave it to you to take Mount Ararat."
Official Ankara strongly condemned the Armenian president's statement. Speaking in Baku, Turkish Premier Recep Erdogan qualified the Armenian leader' statement as a provocation and demanded that President Serzh Sargsyan apologize.

The Turkish foreign office issued a strong statement. Using such expressions is unbecoming to a statesman, a president, the Turkish premier said. President Sargsyan made a major blunder and must apologize, Erdogan said at his meeting with Azerbaijani President Serzh Sargsyan.

Armenian Deputy FM Shavarsh Kocharyan made a statement in connection with the Ankara-raised clamor. He said that Turkey made an artificial hysteria over the Armenian leader' statement.

"You know, I have the impression that the Turks have simply not read the complete answer to the question or that they are just unanimously voicing what they wish to voice, by clinging to separate sections of the address. Actually the answer of the president of Armenia to such a question was serious, comprehensive and quite measured, which, if not perceived in Turkey, then they simply do not need it. In any case, the hysteria made is not only artificial, but should also lead many to conclusions," Sh. Kocharyan told journalists.

At his meeting with participants in the Armenian Language and Literature Olympiad in Tsakhkadzor Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, responding to a student's question, particularly said that his generation defended Nagorno-Karabakh from the enemy. "Each generation has its own duties, and it must be able to perform them well," the Armenian leader said.