Raffi Hovhannisyan won’t head for Azerbaijan

Heritage Party chairman Raffi Hovannisian has been invited by the International Conference of Asian Political Parties to attend the organization’s assembly scheduled for November in the Azerbaijani capital.

Hovannisian’s invitation comes in light of his participation in the previous ICAPP convention held in Phnom Penh, where he visited the concentration camps of the Cambodian genocide and delivered an address on the challenges of democracy and sovereignty, the Armenian Genocide and prevention of crimes against humanity, and Mountainous Karabakh’s liberty and statehood.

Raffi Hovannisian's response to the ICAPP organizers reads as follows:

“Jose de Venecia, Jr.

Founding Chairman and Co-Chairman of the Standing Committee

International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP)

Manila, Philippines

Chung Eui-yong

Co-Chairman of the Standing Committee and Secretary General

International Conference of Asian Political Parties

Seoul, Korea

Dear Sirs:

It was a pleasure, after the very productive meeting in Cambodia, to receive an invitation to the next Assembly of the International Conference of Asian Political Parties.

As I am sure you know, the president of the host country has added to his long-standing record of racism, rights suppression, and anti-Armenian demeanor by pardoning and glorifying an Azerbaijani soldier who had been convicted in Budapest for the cold-blooded murder by axe (yes, you read this correctly) of an Armenian colleague. Today, Lieutenant Gurgen Margaryan would have turned 34 years old.

I will not politicize this letter by detailing the Aliev regime’s human rights background, its destruction of Armenian cultural heritage, and its failed war of aggression against the freedom-loving people of Mountainous Karabagh.

Suffice it to say here that, in view of the recent release and sanctification of axe-murderer Ramil Safarov, the Heritage Party cannot associate itself with the upcoming Assembly and will not attend.

In view of the aims and purposes of ICAPP, moreover, I would expect an unequivocal condemnation of this unconscionable conduct, which flies in the face of our common values and will necessarily cast a dark shadow upon your host government and, most unfortunately, upon the meeting itself.

With kindest regards,

Raffi K. Hovannisian

Chairman, Heritage Party

Former Minister of Foreign Affairs

Republic of Armenia”