Friday,
Armenian Police Struggle To Contain Continuing Protests
• Karlen Aslanian
• Narine Ghalechian
• Tatev Danielian
• Hovannes Movsisian
Armenia - Police detain a protester in Yerevan, .
At least 169 people were detained in Yerevan on Friday as the Armenian police
tried to stop opposition supporters from again blocking streets in protest
against Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian.
The protests mainly involving young people resumed in various parts of the
Armenian capital in the morning following opposition leader Nikol Pashinian’s
calls for a “total blockade” of streets as well as roads leading to the city.
Hundreds of protesters led by Pashinian marched through Yerevan’s northern and
western districts, urging Armenians to “reject Serzh” and again rally in
central Republic Square in the evening. They were greeted by many bystanders
and car drivers honking their horns in response to Pashinian’s appeal to “beep
if you are against Serzh.” Many car horns reverberated throughout the city.
One of the city’s main bridges was blocked by three heavy trucks when the crowd
reached early in the afternoon. The truck drivers left their vehicles parked
there and joined the Pashinian-led march.
“We want to stand with our young people,” one of them told RFE/RL’s Armenian
service (Azatutyun.am). “We want a good life for our children.”
Armenia - A heavy truck blocks access to Yerevan's Kievian Bridge in a show of
support for opposition protesters, .
Meanwhile, smaller groups of Pashinian supporters tried to shut down traffic in
several other parts of Yerevan. They were confronted by riot police keen to
keep the roads open. Dozens of protesters were detained as a result.
Several hundred employees one of the country’s largest information technology
firms, Synopsys Armenia, went on strike and blocked a major street adjacent to
their company’s offices. Police intervened to reopen Arshakuniats Avenue to
traffic 30 minutes later.
Synopsys engineers were joined by other protesters later in the afternoon. More
than two hundred students marched unimpeded through downtown Yerevan in the
meantime.
Armenia - People block a street in Yerevan to protest against Prime Minister
Serzh Sarkisian, .
According to the police, the total number of detainees stood at 169 as of 2
p.m. local time. RFE/RL correspondents witnessed two dozen people bundled into
police vans, personal cars and even public buses used by the police.
Plainclothes policemen were also involved in the operation.
The police defended the detentions, saying that the protesters are not legally
allowed to block streets and law-enforcement officers have to restore “public
order.” A police statement warned that failure to obey officers’ orders will
lead to “negative legal consequences.”
More than a hundred protesters were detained and kept in police custody for
several hours on Wednesday.
Karapetian Retains Key Economic Role
Armenia - Outgoing President Serzh Sarkisian and outgoing Prime Minister Karen
Karapetian meet in Yerevan, 7 April 2018.
Karen Karapetian said on Friday that he will remain in charge of the Armenian
government’s economic policies in his new capacity as first deputy prime
minister.
The former prime minister met a group of other senior government officials
three days after being replaced by former President Serzh Sarkisian. The latter
named Karapetian his first deputy on Wednesday.
“We have divided our functions in this way: I will be responsible for the
economic bloc and regional governance,” Karapetian told the officials, among
them the ministers of economy, agriculture, energy and transport.
“Accordingly, we are making some changes in the [government] staff and
ascertaining the functions and tasks of departments, and so we have to work in
a very targeted manner,” he said, adding that the relevant government agencies
must now “review and restart the plans for this year.”
Karapetian was tasked with improving the socioeconomic situation in Armenia
when Sarkisian appointed him prime minister in September 2016. He subsequently
unveiled an ambitious economic reform agenda.
Citing robust economic growth recorded by the government last year, Karapetian
said his cabinet has succeeded in achieving “all macro-objectives” set by
Sarkisian when he met with the outgoing president on April 7. Sarkisian said at
that meeting that he and Karapetian will be Armenia’s two top government
leaders in the coming years.
Armenian Church Leaders Concerned About Unrest
Armenia - Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian meets with Garegin II (R), Catholicos
of All Armenians (R), and Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia,
Yerevan, 20Apr2018.
The two heads of the Armenian Apostolic Church voices their concerns in
connection with continuing anti-government demonstrations in Yerevan when they
met with Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian on Friday.
According to Sarkisian’s press office, Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II
and the Lebanon-based Catholicos Aram I “appreciated” the fact that there have
been no serious violent clashes between protesters and security forces so far.
Aram, who is the number two figure in the church hierarchy, said the daily
protests against Sarkisian disrupting traffic in the capital are hurting
Armenia.
“After all, it will take months to overcome the consequences of these
demonstrations and damage caused in the course of them,” he said. “The country
could be damaged. We must tell the demonstrators that this is our common
fatherland and all of us are its children.”
In this regard, Aram hailed Sarkisian’s offers of dialogue made to the protest
leader, Nikol Pashinian. Armenia’s government and opposition should discuss all
contentious issues “at the negotiating table, not on the street,” he said.
Garegin also called for “national consolidation and unity” but stopped short of
explicitly criticizing the protesters, according his remarks publicized by
Sarkisian’s office. “We are praying for this situation to gradually calm down
and return to normal,” he told the premier.
In a televised interview aired on Thursday, Sarkisian criticized the protests
against his decision to stay in power, as prime minister, after serving out his
final presidential term on April 9.“When there is no logic in people’s actions
it’s very difficult to understand how events will develop,” he told the Shant
TV channel.
“Unfortunately, we once went down that bitter path,” he said, apparently
referring to the March 2008 violent unrest in Yerevan which preceded the start
of his presidency. He said his government “will do everything to avoid” a
repeat of that scenario.
The premier also said: “We will never opt to restrict rights under any
circumstances.”
Armenian Protest Leader Demands Snap Elections
• Emil Danielyan
• Karlen Aslanian
Armenia - Opposition supporters demonstrate in Republic Square in Yerevan, 20
April 2018.
Opposition leader Nikol Pashinian stepped up the pressure on the Armenian
authorities on Friday, saying that he would only discuss with them the terms of
Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian’s resignation and demanding snap parliamentary
elections.
Pashinian responded to government offers of “dialogue” as he held what appeared
to be his largest rally yet, which followed spontaneous protests staged by his
supporters in various parts of Yerevan throughout the day.
Addressing thousands of supporters in the city’s central Republic Square late
in the evening, Pashinian labelled Sarkisian a “political corpse” who has
effectively lost power.
“It doesn’t mean that we are not prepared to have any discussion [with the
authorities,]” he said. “We are certainly ready to discuss time frames and
certain conditions for Serzh Sarkisian’s resignation.”
“I think you will agree with me in that we don’t want any vendettas or
revenge,” he said. “And if Serzh Sarkisian opens his eyes and steps down as
soon as possible that will only be good for him and Armenia.”
After Sarkisian’s resignation, Pashinian went on, the Armenian parliament must
appoint a “candidate of the people” as prime minister, form an interim
government and then call fresh general elections that would have to be “100
percent clean, free and fair.”
ARMENIA -- Opposition leader Nikol Pashinian (R) speaks in a megaphone as he
takes part in an opposition rally in central Yerevan, April 17, 2018
The 42-year-old admitted his willingness to be interim premier. “If the people
think I should shoulder such responsibility, I will shoulder such
responsibility,” he told reporters.
Sarkisian, who has governed Armenia for the past ten years, has sought to reach
out to Pashinian through his Republican Party (HHK) and his junior coalition
partner, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun).
Dashnaktsutyun’s leadership proposed on Thursday a “forum for political
consultations” between the country’s leading political groups which would be
mediated by President Armen Sarkissian.
First Deputy Prime Minister Karen Karapetian also made a case for dialogue on
Friday, saying that he is “very worried” about the weeklong wave of protests
that has swept through not only Yerevan but also several other cities and towns.
“Even warring countries negotiate and find logical solutions,” Karapetian told
the Armenia TV channel. “We, Armenians, must sit down in hour own home,
rationally negotiate and find logical ways out of this situation. In case of
instability, all of us will suffer, our country will suffer.”
Karapetian, who was replaced by Sarkisian as prime minister on April 9, would
not be drawn on possible government concessions to the Pashinian-led
opposition. “Let us listen to concerns, make proposals, raise all contentious
issues and audaciously talk about them,” he said, speaking before Pashinian’s
latest speech.
Armenia - Young supporters of opposition leader Nikol Pashinian converge on
Republic Square in Yerevan, .
An HHK spokesman insisted on Thursday that Sarkisian’s resignation is out of
the question. The ruling party did not immediately react to Pashinian’s
preconditions for the proposed dialogue.
Pashinian, his Civil Contract party and other opposition and civic groups
launched the daily protests on April 13 in a bid to prevent Sarkisian from
extending his rule. The campaign showed no signs of abating on Friday as more
young Armenians, including high school students, took to the streets and tried
to stop traffic ahead of the Republic Square rally. More than 230 of them were
detained by the police.
The police continued to threaten to forcibly break up the “illegal” gatherings.
A police statement released on Friday evening warned that security forces are
allowed to use “special means,” presumably including stun grenades and tear
gas, against protesters defying their orders.
Joined by and hundeds of his supporters, Pashinian marched through Yerevan’s
northern and western districts in the morning and afternoon. He said he will
take his campaign to other city suburbs on Saturday morning.
Press Review
“Zhoghovurd” hits back at Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian’s claim that ongoing
anti-government demonstrations in Armenia could have an adverse impact on the
domestic economy. “Serzh Sarkisian has revealed the reason for a drop in
foreign investment in Armenia,” it comments sarcastically. The paper says
Armenians are now protesting against him in large numbers because “the
authorities have always rigged election results, thereby incurring the public’s
ire.” “By the way, does Serzh Sarkisian know by any chance for whom the last
two presidential elections were falsified and who became the head of state as a
result of that?” it asks, adding that it is Sarkisian and his HHK who have been
“repelling investors from Armenia.”
“Aravot” worries that both the authorities and the protesters led by Nikol
Pashinian are reluctant to end the deepening standoff through negotiations.
“Clearly, the authorities and the so-called revolutionaries are seeking a
zero-sum game,” editorializes the paper. “But that is not possible because
Armenia is not run by a dictatorial regime whatever some oppositionists may
say. We have no resources to become a dictatorship. All other results of the
game are acceptable.” The paper believes that a mutually acceptable compromise
solution can be found.
“Hayots Ashkhar” also discusses growing calls for such a dialogue. “A dialogue
is certainly a good thing,” it says. “Political negotiations have been a part
and parcel of wars and revolutions and coalition building since ancient times.
And therein lies the main problem. How interested is Nikol Pashinian in a
search for mutually acceptable solutions? Is he interested at all? One can say
whatever they want, but how to gauge one’s sincerity?” The pro- government
daily suggests that Pashinian does not really want a dialogue with the
government. “Negotiations and mutual concessions just don’t fit into the
strategy of street activists,” it says.
“As recently as two weeks ago, everyone in Armenia was convinced that the
people’s spirit of resistance has been utterly broken and that Serzh Sarkisian
will do whatever he wants because people will not take to the streets in any
case,” writes “Chorrord Ishkhanutyun.” “The authorities were also sure about
that, asserting the irreplaceability of their boss and saying that the game is
over. There are now tens of thousands of protesters in the streets of Yerevan.
Rallies are also held in Gyumri, Vanadzor, Armavir and other towns. The
public’s hatred towards the HHK-controlled authorities and Serzh Sarkisian
personally was obviously underestimated.”
(Tigran Avetisian)
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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