Terrorist's presence in Armenian opposition rally raises concerns
It is not a secret that Armenia is a state that supports terrorism at the highest level. It is there where terrorists are glorified, monuments are built to them, and schools, lyceums, and streets are named after them. And the recent events only confirm this, Baku-based news website Day.az has reported.
Recently, Armenian police detained Ambik Sasunyan during protests in Yerevan. Armenian human rights activist Ruben Melikyan was the first to report this, and a few hours later, Sasunyan himself got in touch. He stated that he had taken part in a protest rally during which he had asked the police why they were arresting young people, after which he was detained and taken to a police station. He was later released.
It is worth noting here that Sasunyan is a member of the Armenian terrorist organization “fighters for justice in the issue of the ‘Armenian genocide’”. In 1982, he killed the Turkish consul-general in Los Angeles, for which he was sentenced to life in prison without the right of appeal, in San Quentin Prison in California.
Then U.S. President Ronald Reagan condemned the Turkish consul's murder, calling it “a seeming act of terrorism”.
It should be noted that under California law, prisoners who have spent more than 25 years in prison are eligible to apply for parole, and Sasunyan has repeatedly tried to use this right since October 2007. With the Turkish Foreign Ministry's interference in 2006, 2010, 2013, and 2015, a U.S. court rejected all of his petitions. However, he was eventually paroled in 2021. At that time both official Ankara and Baku condemned his release.
"The release of the Turkish consul-general killer in Los Angeles, who was sentenced to life in prison without the amnesty, will not only undermine confidence in justice but will also encourage those devoid of humanity to use terrorism to achieve their goals," Turkish Vice-President Fuat Oktay said.
"Sasunyan's statement, when he was still in prison, in an interview with Armenia's Hay Zinvor military magazine in 2012 that he was an Armenian soldier and was ready to fight in Karabakh - in the territory of Azerbaijan, which was still under occupation at the time, demonstrates that this terrorist has not changed at all,” official Baku stated.
He is now in Armenia, and the presence of a professional terrorist in the rows of the protesters at a time when the "revanchists" are openly talking about their readiness to use any methods to fight for power is very symbolic.
It is also notable that the Armenian parliament, in the walls of which an act of terrorism has already been committed once, was almost the main target of the protesters. And this happens at a time when some progress is being made to normalize Armenian-Azerbaijani relations.
Given that Sasunyan was eventually released, it is very likely he will show himself again. In a country where terrorists come to opposition rallies, anything is possible.
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