Many Armenians are blaming President Serzh Sargsyan’s decision to freeze the reconciliation process with Turkey for US President Barack Obama’s failure again this year to call Ottoman Turkey’s World War I-era slaughter of ethnic Armenians an act of genocide.
Two days before Armenia commemorates Ottoman Turkey’s World War I-era slayings of ethnic Armenians, President Serzh Sargsyan on April 22 called on Armenia’s parliament to "suspend" the process to ratify reconciliation protocols with Turkey.
Under the terms of the amnesty, individuals wanted by police in connection with the March 2008 clash with protesters, will avoid criminal prosecutions if they turn themselves into law enforcement officials by July 31. Pashinian, who went into hiding after last year's incident, had been charged with instigating the violence that ensued and planning a coup against President Serzh Sargsyan.
