At a press conference held today Heritage Party MP Stepan Safaryan stated that after reading the Armenian press he clearly noted that when it came to their attitude regarding his party the interests of both the regime and the opposition converged. MP Safaryan commented that the opposition, via today’s article in "Haykakan Zhamanak", didn’t seek to defame Armen Martirosyan or Hovsep Khourdoushyan, but only Raffi Hovhannisyan, the founder of the Heritage Party and Armenia’s first foreign minister after independence. "The ‘official organ’ of the Armenian National Congress (HAK), or those who sponsored the article, simply wished to misdirect the attention of the public away from the true reason that Raffi Hovhannisyan has given up his seat in the parliament and thus devalue his move," stated Mr. Safaryan. According to Mr. Safaryan, the real reason that Mr. Hovhannisyan has given up his parliamentary seat is the recently agreed upon Armenian-Turkish protocols. He said that the leader of the Heritage Party saw real threat to the Republic of Armenia in the document and that the party had recently pointed out these threats. "In particular, the positions of Heritage and the HAK regarding Armenian-Turkish relations have radically diverged of late. I don’t know. Perhaps by discrediting us the HAK wishes to resolve an issue regarding the leadership of the opposition or perhaps their attitude is one of personal ambition."