Armenian foreign minister slams US statement on Yerevan events

Armenian foreign minister slams US statement on Yerevan events

Mediamax news agency
14 Apr 04

YEREVAN

Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan today warned against
superficial judgments on the internal political situation in Armenia.

The minister pointed out that “stability in Armenia has deep roots,
and the events we witness today have been created artificially and
will soon be overcome”, Mediamax reports.

Commenting on the assessment of the official representative of the US
Department of State, Richard Boucher, of the situation in Armenia,
Vardan Oskanyan said that “he has made an attempt to make a balanced
statement”.

“However, Mr Boucher has forgotten one important thing – the
opposition’s calls for violence must be clearly and sharply
condemned. If Richard Boucher’s statement had included this component,
I would have backed it,” Vardan Oskanyan said.

The official representative of the US Department of State, Richard
Boucher, said on 13 April that “the United States is concerned about
the current political situation in Armenia, particularly the sharp
escalation in confrontation between the government and the opposition”.
He also noted that “physical assaults, raids on political party
offices and widespread arrests and detentions of opposition activists
by the police do not contribute to creating an atmosphere conducive to
political dialogue”.