Author: Chilingarian Babken

GROWTH OF POPULATION IN KASHATAGH

KarabakhOpen
14-03-2008 11:23:53

In 2006 the number of people who left Kashatagh exceeded the number
of arrivals by 666. According to the governor of Kashatagh Ernest
Ghevondyan, in 2007 there was balance. Moreover, the number of arrivals
exceeded the number of people who left the region by 100. According
to the governor, 30 percent of arrivals are those who had left earlier.

He underlined that for the first time over the past 5 to 6 years
growth of population by 200 was reported.

"Till October 14, 2007 71 communities including 94 areas were
registered. Now there are 53 communities, the population is 8552,"
said Ernest Ghevondyan. He also noted that 64 families in the region
have five and more children, and in one of the families the 15th
child was born.

YEREVAN REJECTS ‘ARBITRARY’ U.S. CRITICISM

Radio Liberty
March 12 2008
Czech Rep.

The Armenian government angrily rejected on Wednesday a senior
U.S. official’s criticism of its post-election crackdown on the
opposition, accusing him of "contributing to an escalation of political
tension" in the country.

U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza on Monday
described as "harsh and brutal" the government’s response to the
March 1 opposition protests in Yerevan and criticized the ongoing
mass arrests of supporters of opposition leader Levon Ter-Petrosian.

"We’re astonished that even after his visit to Yerevan, after meeting
with and hearing from various official and unofficial sources [late
last week,] U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matt Bryza
could make such arbitrary statements," Tigran Balayan, a spokesman
for the Armenian Foreign Ministry, said in a statement. "Assigning
such one-sided blame is unfounded and not helpful."

Balayan defended the use of deadly force against thousands of
Ter-Petrosian supporters, repeating the government claims that many of
them were "in possession of firearms and explosives." "In that case,
labeling the reaction of the government as ‘a crackdown on opposition
protests’, or qualifying it as ‘harsh and brutal’ is incorrect,"
he said. "This was not at all an attack by policemen on civilians."

Bryza clarified late Tuesday that he believes "brutality occurred
on both sides" as "there were people in the [opposition] crowd who
did use violence." But he stressed that the onus is on the Armenian
authorities to resolve the country’s most serious political crisis
in nearly a decade.

"It’s ultimately a problem that has to be repaired by the government of
Armenia, of course, and we call on the government of Armenia to cease
arrests of political leaders and to restore the democratic momentum
that was what had characterized Armenia’s political development
until the period just after this last election," Bryza told RFE/RL
in Washington. "So it’s really up to the government of Armenia to
take steps to restore this democratic momentum."

The U.S. official also urged the administration of outgoing President
Levon Ter-Petrosian to lift the state of emergency in Yerevan "as
soon as possible" and to launch a "nationwide roundtable" of all
major political groups, including the Ter-Petrosian-led opposition.

"What the specific topics would be is up to the participants, of
course, but the process of them resolving their country’s political
future through discussions at the bargaining table rather than in
the streets is the way to build a healthy democracy," he said.

Ter-Petrosian said on Tuesday that he is ready to embark on a
"dialogue" with the authorities so long as they accept the European
Union’s calls to end emergency rule, release all political prisoners
and allow an "independent investigation" into the March 1 clashes
that left at least eight people dead.

"We support the idea of an independent investigation, and it’s useful,"
Bryza said. "But, that said, I think it’ll be very difficult ever to
assess exactly how the tragically violent events transpired.

Now what we need to do is move forward: Repair the damage of the
election by prosecuting people who used violence unlawfully or who
were violating election law."

Bryza further indicated that he does not take seriously Armenian
law-enforcement officials’ claims that Ter-Petrosian resorted to
a mass hypnosis of the population and other "psychological tricks"
to drum up unexpectedly strong popular support for his bid to return
to power. Prosecutor-General Aghvan Hovsepian said last week that the
alleged "psychological sabotage" of the nation could become part of
the authorities’ coup case against the former Armenian president and
his allies.

"Wow, that’s quite a statement," Bryza said. "Mr. Ter-Petrosian is
obviously a very well-known politician who is very skillful in his
oration, so he does have the ability to inspire people, and he was
doing so through his repeated appearances at the demonstrations in
Theater Square in Yerevan," he added. "So that’s what he was doing:
He was being a politician."

Kevorkian Plans Congressional Run

Associated Press
March 12, 2008

PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) – Assisted suicide advocate Jack Kevorkian says he
plans to run for Congress.

Kevorkian is on parole since his release from prison last year after
serving the minimum of a term for second-degree murder in one man’s
death.

He said he plans to run without party affiliation for the 9th District
seat now held by Republican Joe Knollenberg, who is running for
re-election, The Oakland Press reported Wednesday.

"We need some honesty and sincerity instead of corrupt government in
Washington," Kevorkian said. He said he would say more about his
candidacy next week.

The retired pathologist claims to have helped at least 130 people die
from 1990 until 1998 ‘ the year he was charged in the death of Thomas
Youk, a 52-year-old man with Lou Gehrig’s disease. Kevorkian has
promised not to help in any other assisted suicides and could go back
to prison if he did.

Kevorkian needs to gather a minimum of 3,000 signatures on nominating
petitions to appear as an independent on the November ballot.

There was no immediate response Wednesday to a seeking comment from
Kevorkian’s attorney, Mayer Morganroth.

Kevorkian was released from prison in June after serving the minimum
of his 10- to 25-year sentence for second-degree murder in Youk’s
death. He earned time off for good behavior and spent eight years and
2 1/2 months behind bars.

Oakland County Prosecutor Dave Gorcyca, whose office was responsible
for sending Kevorkian to prison, did not give Kevorkian’s candidacy
much weight.

"It’s probably more of a publicity stunt," Gorcyca said. "To call
attention to himself is standard protocol for Jack when he doesn’t
have the limelight focused on him. I would not consider his candidacy
to be a legitimate one."

ALL ARMENIAN CHURCH YOUTH ORGANIZATION TO MEET FIRST IN JULY

ARKA
March 10, 2008

YEREVAN, March 10. /ARKA/. The first meeting of the delegates of the
All Armenian Church Youth Organization will be held in Mother See
Holy Etchmiadzin in July 9-14.

The Press Office of Mother See Holy Etchmiadzin reports that all the
organizational issues were discussed during the Etchmiadzin meeting
with Archbishop Hovnan Terteryan in chair.

A similar discussion with participation of the organization’s European
representatives and with Archbishop Hovnan Terteryan in chair is
expected in Amsterdam in one of the upcoming days.

Aravot, Armenia
Feb 29 2008

Speak the language of law

by Naira Mamikonyan

Yesterday [28 February] police officers of the Malatsia -Sebastia
community [in Yerevan] entered the apartments of the two heads of
[Armenian first president Levon] Ter-Petrosyan’s election
headquarters, Armenak Karagyozyan and Gagik Eghiazaryan, and without
any explanation took them to the local police station. Later they
were released. It is noteworthy that the two were asked the same
question at the police station: what they were doing on Freedom
Square?

National Security Service makes statement

The first president’s comrade-in-arms [and editor-in-chief of
Haykakan Zhamanak newspaper] Nikol Pashinyan has called on the police
"to speak in the language of law".

Yesterday our newspaper reported that in the late night of 27
February, the people [protesters] who provided security at the rally
on Freedom Square arrested two young men who have been making calls
on the protesters to act violently against the authorities. They were
"summoned" to Levon Ter-Petrosyan. The young men admitted that they
were employees of the National Security Service [NSS] of Armenia and
were present at the square on personal orders of the head of the
National Security Service, Gorik Hakobyan. Eavesdropping devices,
audio records and some notes were found on them. The police officers
invited at the scene took the agents away.

In this connection, yesterday the NSS disseminated a curious
statement which said the participants of the "illegal" rally had
captured "two NSS officers presented by them as `provocateurs’". The
statement further read: "The National Security Service of the
Republic of Armenia, performing the responsibilities vested on it by
law on securing the constitutional order and providing safety of the
rally-goers, announces that due to the efforts of NSS officers, a
large quantity of weapons, ammunition, poisonous and explosive
substances have been recently found on extremists at the unauthorized
rallies." It also noted that the NSS acted only for the sake of
people and provision of security of the rally-goers.

We [Aravot] stress that over all this time only two "pro-extremism"
persons have been unmasked, and those appeared to be the NSS
officers. By the way, it was their behaviour that attracted attention
of the participants of the peaceful action as well as the volunteers
who provided their safety [at the rally venue].

But the most absurd is the last paragraph of the NSS statement: "We
once again assure that the NSS jointly with the police will continue
to perform their duties vested by the law, and warns some hot heads
that any attempts to prevent us from the execution of official
activities will lead to strict responsibility envisaged by the law."
And this means that "some hot heads", in this case the [NSS] agents,
will continue to call for violence at the square, and any attempt to
stop them will lead to "strict responsibility". Nikol Pashinyan
considers that "provocateurs should have made calls for overthrowing
the authorities so that [authorities] have grounds for the arrest of
opposition activists".

Acts of force against opposition

Let’s turn to the cases of rights violations and arrests which took
place in the past days. As a reminder, in the evening of 27 February
two students were taken to the police station of the capital’s
Kentron community from the territory adjacent to Freedom Square. When
MPs Zaruhi Postanjyan and Stepan Safaryan came to the police station
to learn why the young men were arrested, a group of people in plain
clothes initiated a scuffle with them, and then pushed them out of
the building with force. The same people took away a microphone from
a Radio Liberty correspondent and threw it from the window.

This is not the first time the police have committed such illegal
actions against members of National Assembly and journalists. We
recall that similar cases took place on the voting day [on 19
February] at some polling stations. Yesterday on Freedom Square
police officers tried to hamper the work of a cameraman Gagik
Shamshyan of Aravot and Chorrord Ishkhanutyun papers [affiliated to
opposition]. The person, who assaulted the media representative and
used bad language, was Lt-Col Araik Petrosyan, who is notorious for
multiple cases of using force against journalists.

We recall, it was the same Araik Petrosyan who on 23 October 2007 hit
a female journalist of Chorrord Ishkhanutyun newspaper Gohar Veziryan
reporting from the peaceful demonstration of the opposition. Prior to
this, he rudely treated A1+ correspondent Diana Markosyan. It is
noteworthy that during the rule of the incumbent authorities there
has been no punishment for a skinhead or a policeman abusing his
rights for attacking MPs and journalists.

MATTHEW BRYZA PLANS TO CONVINCE THE ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT OF THE NECESSITY TO LIFT THE STATE OF EMERGENCY

Mediamax
March 6, 2008

Yerevan /Mediamax/. U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew
Bryza will hold meetings in Yerevan today with representatives of
the Armenian authorities and the opposition.

Mediamax reports that official representative of the U.S. State
Department Tom Casey said this at a briefing in Washington.

"The primary focus of that and the intention of his visit there was
first and foremost to see what he could do to help encourage and
facilitate a dialogue between the government and the opposition there
in light of some of the violence that we’ve seen in the post-electoral
period.

One of his core messages will be to tell the Armenian Government that
now that the situation has calmed down, it’s very important to us to
see the state of emergency lifted there. We also are concerned about
the limitations and restrictions that have been placed on the media,
including Radio Liberty and we’d like to see those lifted. It’s
important for not only us but for – more importantly the people of
Armenia to be able, in this period, to have access to open information"
Tom Casey stated.

Mediamax notes that the Armenian President Robert Kocharian stated on
March 5 that the emergency state in Yerevan was introduced on March 1
for the term of 20 days and that he does not see necessity to prolong
or to reduce the given term.

ORGANIZERS OF YEREVAN RIOTS TO BE PROSECUTED – PRESIDENT

Interfax News Agency
Russia & CIS
March 3, 2008
Russia

All the organizers and participants in the Yerevan riots will be
prosecuted, President Robert Kocharian told the Special Representative
of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Heikki Talvitie on Sunday.

All points of law must be given legal interpretations, the presidential
press service cited Kocharian as saying.

The president described the current situation in Yerevan to the OSCE
envoy and said that the latest developments could hardly be described
as politics.

First and foremost, the state of emergency in Yerevan targets security,
Kocharian said.

We are trying to reduce possible inconveniences and limits on
fundamental rights as much as possible, he said.

The interlocutors voiced hope for the soonest settlement in Armenia
and the restoration of stability and order.

The police dispersed a rally of supporters of Armenian ex-president
Levon Ter-Petrossian on Yerevan’s Freedom Square on March 1, and the
protesters moved to the area adjoining the embassies of France and
Italy and the Yerevan City Hall. Up to 10,000 people gathered there.

The police said that the crowd ran out of control by night and
protesters began to pillage governmental facilities and private shops
and set fire to vehicles.

The riots stopped as the president announced a state of emergency for
a period of 20 days. The ordinance said that the state of emergency
was to prevent the threat to order and to protect rights and interests
of lawful citizens.

Although the situation is becoming dangerous in Yerevan, the
authorities will not turn to a curfew, Kocharian has said.

"It was my duty as the guarantor of the Constitution to make such
a decision. By all accounts, the certain concessions made were
misinterpreted by one of the presidential candidates. What is going on
now is a political process. Shots were fired at police, and weapons
and grenades, we had been talking about, were used," Kocharian said
at a news conference early after he signed a decree ordering a state
of emergency in Yerevan.

Eight police officers, including a regiment commander, were seriously
wounded, he said. "I have no information about fatalities," he added.

Kocharian said he had signed the decree "when reports arrived about
eight wounded police officers and the use of firearms against law
enforcement personnel."

"I am calling on citizens to demonstrate restraint and understanding,
to respect the law, and to help restore law and order," Kocharian said.

Viktor Sogomonian, a spokesman for the Armenian president, said, that
authorities in Armenia are in control of the situation in Yerevan,
and the atmosphere is calm in all remaining regions.

"The situation is under control. There is no public unrest. A state of
emergency has been introduced in Yerevan for 20 days, until March 21.

Under the constitution, the restrictions, in particular, apply to
mass actions in Yerevan. Some restrictions have also been imposed on
the media," Sogomonian told Interfax.

The authorities have done their best to mitigate inconveniences for
Yerevan residents. "Even a curfew has not been introduced in Yerevan,"
he said.

"People have calmed down. The authorities are resolute in their
intention to identify and punish the organizers and participants in
any unrest," he said.

Sogomonian was asked if he knew who was behind the actions in
Yerevan. "This is within the competence of the Interior Ministry,"
he said.

Information about eight deaths during the unrest has not been
confirmed. "According to recent data, seven people died, amongst them
a serviceman," he said.

"Everything has been calm and remains calm" in other regions of
Armenia, he said.

Meanwhile, OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Finnish Foreign Minister Ilkka
Kanerva called for the beginning of political dialog in Armenia
on Monday.

He urged the authorities to release detained protesters and suggested
dialog between the authorities and the opposition.

Kanerva said he had sent his special representative, diplomat Heikki
Talvitie, to Armenia.

He said the special representative would try to organize negotiations
between the sides and resolve the crisis through political dialog.

The U.S. Department of State urged Armenians to avoid new outbreaks of
violence, to act in strict compliance with laws, to show self-control
and to resume political dialog.

Human Rights Watch said that Armenian security forces used
disproportionate force.

PRESIDENT KOCHARYAN SEES NO NEED IN PROLONGING OR REDUCING THE TERM OF THE STATE OF EMERGENCY

armradio.am
05.03.2008 17:50

RA President Robert Kocharyan declared at a press conference in Yerevan
today that imposing a state of emergency in Yerevan on March 1st was a
"necessity." According to him, otherwise the number of the killed and
wounded would be greater, and the consequences of the unrest would
be heavier.

The President reminded that the state of emergency was declared on
March 1 for the term of 20 days and said he does not see the necessity
of prolonging or reducing the term. Robert Kocharyan underlined that
he will not lift the state of emergency unless he is confident that
the participants of the illegal actions are arrested and the will
not attempt to destabilize the situation once again.

Robert Kocharyan said the law-enforcement bodies have a number of
materials, including videos, and "the picture of events of March 1st
will be restored minute by minute." According to him, the volume of
the initiated criminal case is "huge," and the investigating group
will have to "work day and night." "Upon my order representatives of
the law-enforcement bodies will inform on the process of investigation
every day," Robert Kocharyan stated.

The Armenian President stated that the people included in the criminal
case may be divided into three conditional groups: organizers, members
of groups, who committed attacks on policemen, and participants of
the rally, who participated in the robbery of the shops.

"It is obvious that the level of guilt of the organizers, instigators
of unrest and the ordinary participants is different, and the attitude
of the law-enforcement bodies to them will be different. However, it
will be the greatest unfairness if in the first place the organizers
and the instigators of the unrest are not found and held accountable,"
the Armenian President stated.

"It is natural that special attitude will be demonstrated towards
those who used arms and explosives against policemen," Robert
Kocharyan stated.

President Robert Kocharyan stated today that Levon Ter-Petrosian
repeatedly turned down the proposals of the authorities for a
dialogue. The President stressed that after the unrest organized by
the supporters of Ter-Petrosian on March 1st, "the process passed
from the political framework to the legal one."

Robert Kocharyan reminded that at his rallies Ter-Petrosian rejected
any possibility of a dialogue with the authorities. The President
reminded that right after the elections, President elect Serge Sargsyan
stated his readiness to cooperate with all the political forces, "and
everybody responded to the given proposal, except for Ter-Petrosian."

The Armenian President described as "not corresponding to reality"
the statement of Levon Ter-Petrosian, according to which in the
evening of March 1st he held talks with the authorities, who refused
to fulfill his demands.

"Through the Head of State Protection Service Grigori Sargsyan Levon
Ter-Petrosyan stated that he agreed to go and calm his supporters
down, who had gathered at the square in front of the City Hall,
if we fulfilled his conditions. The conditions included: taking
his supporters through the center of the city to the Opera Square,
continuing the rally and receiving guarantees of unhindered conduct
of the rally for 15 days. That is to say, it was an ultimatum,"
Robert Kocharyan stated.

The President noted that by the time, when Ter-Petrosian voiced his
conditions, the crowd of his supporters had already burnt a few dozens
of cars and attacked policemen.

"Imagine what would happen, if we allowed that crowd to move to the
Opera Square through the center of the city," Robert Kocharyan stated.

The President noted that Ter-Petrosyan was notified that he was
free to join his supporters without any limitations. "His guards are
officers of the State Protection Service, who could not participate
in an illegal event," Robert Kocharyan stated.

The President reminded also that Levon Ter-Petrosyan did not let
the Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II into his house late on
March 1st.

"The Catholicos called me and, stating his deep concern, stated that
he intends to pay a visit to Ter-Petrosyan. I said that I could only
welcome such initiative. However, as you know, Ter-Petrosyan did
not let him in. To tell the truth, I can hardly imagine a situation,
when an Armenian, wherever he is, would be able not to allow the Head
of the Armenian Church into his house," Robert Kocharyan stated.

President Robert Kocharyan declared that the authorities did not
plan to disperse the rally of Ter-Petrosyan’s supporters at the Opera
Square on March 1st.

Robert Kocharyan stated that the policemen entered the Square early
in the morning with the request to carry out a search.

According to the President, the decision on emptying the square from
the demonstrators was made as a result of furious resistance of the
rally participants.

"I often ask myself a question: maybe one should hot have tolerated the
illegal rally for ten days? I think that if the square was emptied on
the second day, or the third, we would have avoided the consequences
we have today. However, the authorities did not take that step,
since recount of votes was in process, and actions with the use of
force could have been interpreted as pressure. We planned to take up
active actions only in case the illegal rallies continued after the
verdict of the Constitutional Court," the Armenian President stated.

Commenting on the words of Levon Ter-Petrosyan, according to which
after March 21 he plans to continue the struggle by means of holding
rallies and demonstrations, Robert Kocharyan stated that "in case of
unapproved actions, we will respond strictly and immediately."

TER-PETROSIAN MAKES CASE FOR REPEAT ELECTION

Radio Liberty
March 5 2008
Czech Republic

Former President Levon Ter-Petrosian made a case on Wednesday for a
re-run of Armenia’s disputed presidential election in a speech at the
Constitutional Court that marked his first public appearance since
the post-election violence in Yerevan.

Ter-Petrosian was placed under de facto house arrest immediately
after the break-up early Saturday of his and his supporters’ non-stop
protests in the city’s Liberty Square. The authorities did not allow
to him to leave his house with his state-funded security detail.

The Constitutional Court ordered authorities on Tuesday to ensure that
the opposition leader is able to attend hearings on his appeal against
the official results of the February 19 vote that gave victory to Prime
Minister Serzh Sarkisian. Ter-Petrosian was surrounded by his longtime
bodyguards as he made his way into the court building in Yerevan to
deliver a 10-minute speech on the second day of the hearings.

"In this situation, a decision by the Constitutional Court not to
invalidate the elections would result in a deficit of legitimacy that
would be dangerous for both the country’s future and the Constitutional
Court’s authority," he said.

Ter-Petrosian left it to his legal representatives to detail what
his campaign team says are serious irregularities registered during
voting and counting of ballots and focused on other aspects of
the presidential race. He claimed in particular that Sarkisian’s
registration as a presidential candidate was "inherently illegal"
because of a law that bars serving government officials from running
for president.

Sarkisian and his allies insist that the clause applies to civil
servants and that the post of prime minister is a political one.

Ter-Petrosian also cited a constitutional provision which stipulates
that presidential elections can not be held in Armenia under martial
law or a state of emergency. "A presidential election means the entire
electoral process from the nomination [of candidate] to the end of
a period set for appeals; namely, a verdict by the Constitutional
Court," he said.

Under Armenian law, the court has to hand down that verdict before
Sunday. A representative of the ex-president, Artak Zeynalian,
complained that its nine judges will not have enough time to study
more than 360 pages of documents and video material which he said
will be submitted by the Ter-Petrosian campaign.

The court, which is headed by Gagik Harutiunian, Armenia’s
former vice-president during Ter-Petrosian’s rule, has rarely made
decisions going against the government’s wishes throughout its 12-year
existence. Still, it did question the legitimacy of outgoing President
Robert Kocharian’s hotly disputed reelection in 2003 by proposing a
"referendum of confidence" in the head of state.

Kocharian rejected that proposal as unconstitutional.

In his court speech, Ter-Petrosian also welcomed the European Union’s
position on Armenia’s political crisis that was formulated by the
Slovenian presidency of the EU in a statement issued late Tuesday.

"The European Union is deeply concerned about the situation in
the Republic of Armenia after the presidential elections," read the
statement. "The EU condemns the acts of violence committed during the
events of 1 March, which resulted in the loss of life and numerous
injuries. The EU calls upon the Armenian authorities to release any
citizens detained for exercising their right to peaceful assembly and
to lift the state of emergency, which imposes restrictions on media
freedom, the freedom to assembly, and on political parties."

The statement also urged the authorities in Yerevan to allow
an "independent investigation" into Saturday’s clashes between
Ter-Petrosian supporters and security forces and to begin a "political
dialogue" with the opposition. "The constructive dialogue between
authorities and the opposition is very important for the consolidation
of peace and stability in the country," it said.

"I fully accept those proposals and consider them a platform for
our actions during this session of the Constitutional Court," said
Ter-Petrosian.

The former Armenian leader was far more critical of the EU and the West
in general in an op-ed article in The Washington Post published on
Wednesday. He expressed dismay at Western powers’ generally positive
assessment of the Armenian election and their failure to explicitly
condemn the deadly use of force against his supporters protesting
against vote rigging.

"Why did the regime headed by outgoing President Robert Kocharian
and ‘president-elect’ Sarkisian think it could get away with using
force against its own people?" wrote Ter-Petrosian. "Surely the two
men had their reasons, but the West’s signal, even if unintentional,
that they did not have to worry about a strong international reaction
was the most important one."

Ter-Petrosian suggested that the West is indifferent to "the rape of
our democracy by the Kocharian-Sarkisian regime" because it lacks
faith in rapid democratic change in Armenia and thinks that only
the country’s current top leaders can resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict. "The problem is that despite being in power for the past 10
years, Kocharian and Sarkisian have done little to move the negotiating
process forward," he said. "More important, any leader who must make
consequential and difficult choices must have the trust of his people.

"Sarkisian does not have that trust. After what he and Kocharian
did on March 1, he will not be able to govern here, let alone make
difficult choices."

RA GENERAL STAFF: ARMENIAN ARMY DIDN’T FIRE AT PEOPLE

PanARMENIAN.Net
04.03.2008 13:16 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Armenian armed forces and police are charged
with the task to fulfill the Armenian President’s edict on imposition
of emergency rule in Yerevan, RA general staff chief, colonel general
Seyran Ohanyan told a news conference in Yerevan.

"The army did not interfere in dispersal of looter on March 1. It
serves as a shield between the people and police. Army shoots only if
the assaulters commence fire. Soldiers did not fire a single shot,"
he said, adding, "Army doesn’t deal with arrests, it is the law
enforcement’s duty."