Jirayr Sefilyan reflected today on repeated failed attempts to receive RoA citizenship and stated that former President Kocharyan refused him twice and current President Sargsyan refused him once. Mr. Sefilyan, by law, had to wait one year after his last refusal before applying for citizenship once again. That one year recently expired and Mr. Sefilyan’s lawyer went to inquire about reapplying for citizenship. It now appears that another impediment has surfaced that will not even allow Mr. Sefilyan from filing citizenship application papers. “I applied a few days after being released from jail. Several months passed until I received the refusal and by that time I had to legally register as a resident in Armenia and applied for a special status 10 year passport granted to foreign citizens. I was refused this document as well. I was forced to apply for a one year extension of my residency status and this too was denied. Thus, from a legal standpoint, I reside in Armenia illegally. This has been the case for the past 8-9 years. To my amazement, the authorities now tell me that I can apply for citizenship when my residency status has been rectified,” said Mr. Sefilyan. The Karabakh war veteran and member of the Sardarapat Initiative said that politics were why he hasn’t been granted Armenian citizenship and that the manipulations by the government merely show just how far we have strayed from our national ideals of uniting the Armenian people on what remains of the Armenian homeland. "The main thing right now is that I am here and will stay here. It's no wonder that I haven't left for the past ten years. They'd never let me back in if I did leave," Sefilyan said at today's press conference. Mr. Sefilyan said that he wasn’t preparing to take his case to the European Court if his citizenship issue wasn’t resolved by the Armenian authorities.