Armenia protesters seek confidence vote on leader

seattletimes.com
Nation & World
Saturday, April 10, 2004, 12:33 A.M.
World Digest

Armenia protesters seek confidence vote on leader

YEREVAN, Armenia – About 20,000 demonstrators massed in the capital of
ex-Soviet Armenia yesterday to demand the resignation of President Robert
Kocharyan.

Demonstrators answering the call of two opposition parties poured into
Freedom Square.

Participants said they wanted to hold a nationwide confidence vote on
Kocharyan’s administration, which remains beset by a failure to resolve a
protracted dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory populated by ethnic
Armenians but assigned to mainly Muslim Azerbaijan in Soviet times.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

Emil Lazarian

“I should like to see any power of the world destroy this race, this small tribe of unimportant people, whose wars have all been fought and lost, whose structures have crumbled, literature is unread, music is unheard, and prayers are no more answered. Go ahead, destroy Armenia . See if you can do it. Send them into the desert without bread or water. Burn their homes and churches. Then see if they will not laugh, sing and pray again. For when two of them meet anywhere in the world, see if they will not create a New Armenia.” - WS