Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan has rejected an offer, made by the country’s first president Levon Ter-Petrosyan, to meet face to face for a discussion regarding the recently issued Pan-Armenian Proclamation on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

Sargsyan, in a public letter issued today, said that he disagreed with all the points raised by Ter-Petrosyan and saw no need for such a meeting.

Ter-Petrosyan basically lambasted the proclamation on several points, one being that the body (state commemorative organizing committee) that drafted the text had overstepped its authority by claiming that it speaks for the “united will” of all Armenians.

President Sargsyan stressed that the committee has sought to unite, rather than divide Armenians, and that a variety of viewpoints were taken into consideration.

Without mentioning specific names, Sargsyan claims that the proclamation is the first such document drafted since Armenian independence that has been accepted by most Armenian communities and organizations throughout the world. 

In his open letter to resident Sargsyan, Ter-Petrosyan called for a meeting to more effectively voice his concerns about the Genocide proclamation.