YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 20, ARMENPRESS. The President of the Republic of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan has replied to the open letter by the former President of the Republic of Armenia Levon Ter-Petrosyan. The Mass Media and Public Relations Department of the President’s Office informed “Armenrpess” that the response particularly runs as follows:

“I am grateful for the concerns You expressed in the open letter You addressed me on February 17. I want to say that I categorically deny Your assessments on the Pan-Armenian Declaration on the 100th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

I deny them not merely because this is the first document authored by almost all the representatives of all the communities and structures representing the Armenians since the independence (thus becoming a unique symbol of national unity), but also because there have been serious specialists from various parts of the world representing the realms touched upon in the declaration, who participated in the process of its development. I am confident about the professionalism of those people.

From the moment of its establishment, the State Commission on Coordination of the events for the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide was guided by the primary principle of uniting everyone and taking into consideration all the opinions.

It there are some opinions and suggestions, which were not introduced for the joint discussions for this or that reason, then they should not be left outside of that platform of unity and they must be taken into account, as well. In this regard, I find that Your suggestions also must be discussed. You noted that there is a necessity to hold a face-to-face meeting for that. I see no problem.

Furthermore, in my opinion, the reasons You mentioned on the impossibility of holding such a meeting are totally inappropriate. I am ready to send You the relevant invitation, when You find that there is a necessity and You have a desire to hold a private conversation on the events dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.”