YEREVAN. – It is obvious that we will not be able to remove our enemy from our territory by war; we have to do it through negotiations. Edmon Marukyan, chairman of the opposition Bright Armenia Party (BAP) and head of its parliamentary faction, on Tuesday told this to reporters before the start of their election campaign in the Malatia-Sebastia district of the capital Yerevan, ahead of the snap parliamentary elections on June 20.

"Bright Armenia can have a great contribution on the diplomatic front. We have [contribution] today, too; simply as a representative of the parliament; tomorrow we can have [it] as an executive power. Armenia must pursue a balanced policy on the foreign front in order to get out of this situation. [If elected,] we [the BAP] will remove those [Azerbaijani] troops from the territory of Armenia through negotiations. We will strengthen the [new] 540km border with new technology; we do not need to place soldiers there," he said.

To a reporter’s remark that the incumbent Armenian authorities also speak about removing the enemy from the borders of Armenia through negotiations, Marukyan countered that they had said this idea, but had not negotiated. "The difference of our [the BAP’s] negotiations is that we will have a negotiator. Our negotiator will not leave the ‘trench,’ the public service. We have seen the results of their [the incumbent authorities’] negotiations," Edmon Marukyan emphasized.