Author: Kamalian Hagop

UN Department of Public Information
Contact: Information Officer Armine Halajyan
Yerevan Office (Armenia)
Tel.: (374 10) 560 212
Fax/Tel.: (374 10) 561 406
Mobile: (374 91) 20 37 25

Statement attributable to the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General on
Armenia

New York, 3 March 2008– The Secretary-General is deeply concerned about
the violent clashes between police forces and demonstrators in Armenia
over the weekend. It is his hope that these events, during which eight
people died, will be thoroughly investigated.

The Secretary-General calls on all parties to exercise full restraint
and to find a way out of the current crisis. He also urges the Armenian
authorities to take all necessary steps to ensure a return to normalcy,
including through a speedy lifting of the state of emergency.

EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCES IN ARMENIA

Panorama.am
00:02 02/03/2008

On 1 March the president of the Republic of Armenia Robert Kocharyan
announced extraordinary circumstances in Armenia. The information
is provided by the press and public relations department of the
president’s administration.

In order to prevent the threats of the constitutional order and
to protect citizens’ rights and legal interests, leading by the RA
Constitution articles 55/14 and 117/6 a decision is made:

1. to announce extraordinary circumstances in Yerevan for 20 days
on 1 March 2008 2. to announce the RA president as the body of
regulating and directing the problem salvation duties 3. to hand
the responsibilities of providing the peace and regulation steps to
the police of the RA and the Defense Ministry of RA 4. to announce
extraordinary circumstances in the announced territories with the
following time limits: 1) to prohibit conducting meetings, gatherings,
manifestations, public demonstrations, 2) to prohibit any activities
limiting organizations’ labor duties, 3) to give legal bodies rights,
if needed, to stop and check transport means, 4) mass media is allowed
to publish state and local news in the line with information provided
by the state bodies 5) to prohibit carrying out political campaign
by spreading booklets without having permission from appropriate
state bodies, 6) to block activities of political parties and NGO-s
which could prevent from carrying out the announced extraordinary
circumstances in the capital, 7) to oust people from the territories
where they prevent from carrying out the extraordinary circumstances
on their own means or on state budget with the terms that they should
be paid back, 5. to command the Government of the RA to take and carry
out necessary measures to assure the bringing out of the current order,
6. The current order comes into force after it is announced.

IN 2008 MUNICIPALITY OF YEREVAN TO SIGN AGREEMENT OF MUTUAL COOPERATION WITH DELHI

Noyan Tapan
March 3, 2008

YEREVAN, MARCH 3, NOYAN TAPAN. In 2008 the municipality of Yerevan
will sign an agreement of mutual cooperation with the city of
Delhi. As David Gevorgian, the Head of the administration of the
Foreign Relations of the municipality of Yerevan, stated at the
press conference held on March 3, in addition to this, at present,
work is being carried out with the RA Ministry of Foreign Affairs and
the Embassy of China in the Republic of Armenia, so as a bilateral
cooperation is established between Yerevan and any big city of China.

In the words of David Gevorgian, the object of the international
cooperation implemented by the municipality is the establishment of
stable, long-lasting and mutually beneficial relations. For that
reason, at present, Yerevan is conducing active activities with
the municipalities of Moscow, Saint Peterburg, Rostov-on-Don, Lyon,
Marseille, Nice and Los Angeles. At the same time, David Gevorgian
mentioned that the municipality of Yerevan is cooperating with the
CIS and Baltic countrie more actively.

The Head of the administration also stated that this year the 2790th
anniversary of the foundation of Yerevan will be celebrated, on the
occasion of which a great number of delegations from different cities
will arrive in Armenia.

PROTESTS IN ARMENIA PAINT A SURREAL SCENE
By Frale Oyen

Pacific Daily News
AID=/20080304/OPINION02/803040304/1014/OPINION
Mar ch 3 2008
GU

Riot police and the military continue to patrol the streets of central
Yerevan, rounding up demonstrators who, for the past nine days, have
been protesting the results of the country’s presidential elections
held on Feb. 19.

For the past two days, the area in front of our apartment has been
surrounded by the police and the military. Now, the entire downtown
area has been locked down.

Since the current Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan was declared the
Republic of Armenia’s next president, we’ve been waiting for something
to happen. The situation has been tense, especially as Sargsyan,
supported by Russia and the hand-picked successor to outgoing President
Robert Kocharyan, purportedly is not very popular with the masses.

Still, according to the Central Election Commission, Sargsyan garnered
nearly 53 percent of the votes, light years away from his nearest
rivals Artur Baghdasaryan, the former Speaker of Parliament and head
of the Orinats Yerkir (Country of Law) Party, who came in second,
and Levon Ter-Petrosyan, the first president of Armenia (1991-1997),
who placed third. Sargsyan only needed 50 percent plus one to avoid
a run off against the second place finisher.

However, the Opposition, led by Ter-Petrosyan, insists that the
elections were rigged and that he was the rightful victor.

Although a number of election violations, ranging from vote buying
to harassment, intimidation and (some) beatings of poll workers
and observers, were reported, observers from the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe maintained that, although there
were "irregularities," the Feb. 19 election broadly met Armenia’s
commitments to democracy.

The Opposition refuses to accept the results and, since Feb. 20,
several hundred of its supporters have been camping out and holding
daily rallies in Liberty Square at the Opera House, located across
the street from our apartment.

However, bear in mind, that this is Armenia where it is difficult to
differentiate fact from fiction. There is little to no independent
press and rumor mongering is the national pastime.

The Opposition has been allowed to express its views but the situation
has been tense – peaceful but tense. For the past nine days, police,
protestors and bystanders have been civil with one another, chatting
and sharing cigarettes and the ubiquitous sunflower seeds.

Until this morning.

At 7 a.m., Fredrik and I were yanked from a sound sleep. At first,
we thought that, as in the past two days, the demonstrators had
again taken to the streets. But then we realized that the sounds of
yelling and dull thuds had replaced chants of "Levon! Levon!" and
"Down with Serzh!"

Bleary-eyed, we ran to the balcony, which looks out onto the Northern
Avenue, a pedestrianized area that links Opera Square and Republic
Square in central Yerevan, to see what was going on.

The scene unfolding below was surreal. Protestors were being chased
down the Northern Avenue by riot police and military officials
wielding batons and huge sticks. Some tried to stand their ground,
returning time and time again, defiantly yelling and shaking their
fists at the authorities before taking to their heels. The resulting
ruckus woke local residents, who, like us, watched the disbursement
of the demonstrators from their respective balconies. Even the stray
dogs joined the fray, romping amid the fleeing protestors.

The situation still remains tense. Demonstrators and riot police
have clashed outside the French and Italian Embassies in downtown
Yerevan, and the Opposition has called for additional rallies to be
held later today, despite reports that their leader Ter-Petrosyan has
been placed under house arrest. The U.S. Embassy has urged American
citizens living outside the capital to stay away and those living in
the capital to remain at home.

Should be interesting to see how this story ends. One hopes it won’t
be another bleak chapter in Armenia’s history.

Frale Oyen and her husband, Fredrik, who works for HSBC Bank, currently
live in Yerevan, Armenia. She worked for the Pacific Daily News from
1989 to 1995.

WEAPONS, AMMUNITION SEIZED FROM OPPOSITION DEMONSTRATORS IN YEREVAN – POLICE SPOKESMAN

Interfax News Agency
Russia & CIS
March 1, 2008 Saturday
Russia

A large amount of weapons and ammunition were seized from Freedom
Square in Yerevan, where the opposition stayed in a tent city for
several days, Armenian police spokesman Sayat Shirinian said at a
press conference in Yerevan.

"We received information that the weapons were to be distributed on
Freedom Square, after which we decided to start a check," Shirinian
said.

The people who stayed on the square offered active resistance to
police, Shirinian said. In particular, they threw stones and bottles
at policemen and used metal bars and stabbing objects, he said.

"Facing resistance, police decided to start dispersing the
demonstrators," he said.

More than 20 demonstrators have been detained and more people are
wanted, Shirinian said. An investigation has been launched, he said.

Police displayed the weapons and ammunition that the demonstrators
supposedly used to resist, including pistols, grenades, batons,
metal bars, and Molotov cocktails.

NO CURFEW FOR YEREVAN – PRESIDENT

Interfax News Agency
Russia & CIS
March 2, 2008 Sunday
Russia

Although the situation is becoming dangerous in Yerevan, the
authorities will not turn to a curfew, Armenian President Robert
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 on Sunday 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.

"But it would be unwise to turn to a curfew in a city with a population
of over a million," he said. "Therefore, we have chosen measures that
will bring the least inconvenience to those who are not involved in
the disturbances," he said.

The rally has moved to other districts of Yerevan and "has disappeared
from the political field," he said.

"We must and we can guarantee citizens’ security. But we must,
naturally, resort to rigorous measures, when weapons are turned against
the state. Those who fired shots at police did so from behind cars
and behind the backs of protestors, who were not armed. They hoped
for fatalities," Kocharian said.

"Seeing that the protest wave was subsiding, Levon Ter-Petrosian
provoked the situation. He did so, because all candidates, except
him, had responded to Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan’s proposal. This
must have incited Ter-Petrosian to turn to provocations. Of course,
there are people in his electorate, who had joined him for ideological
reasons.

But some won’t stop at anything – whether looting, or shooting at
policemen," he said.

They are people without an ideology, who can be easily manipulated
and provoked, he said. "We hoped they would not step into lawlessness.

They did," the Armenian president said.

8 DEAD IN YEREVAN NIGHT RIOT

PanARMENIAN.Net
02.03.2008 13:36 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ According to the RA Public Health, 8 people were
killed in yesterday’s night melee in Yerevan.

33 policemen (11 with fragmentation wounds, 13 with bodily injuries,
8 poisoned with gas and 1 unconscious) were taken to hospital.

On March 1, some protesters, cutting off the crowd, set fire to 20
cars, destroyed trolleybuses and buses.

The House of Moscow, supermarkets and offices, smashed windows
of VivaCell head premises. Groups of drunken people assaulted law
enforcers.

The Police are after those privy to incitement of mass disorders.

The Police call for restraint and obedience to the emergency rule and
help the law enforcers to clear away the consequences of the disorders.

Yesterday morning the police dispersed the opposition rally held
in support of Armenia’s first President Levon Ter-Petrosyan. In the
afternoon the demonstrators took the streets toward the French Embassy
basing near the Yerevan mayor’s office. The protest action resulted
in clashes with police.

Numerous shops were looted.

On March 1 evening President Robert Kocharian declared state of
emergency for 20 days.

THERE IS A SPECIAL BEATING GROUP

A1+
[08:46 pm] 01 March, 2008

The neighboring square of Myasnikyan monument is crowded at the
moment. Komaygi, neighboring territories of the Yerevan Municipality
and the Italian Embassy are also crowded. Aram Sargsyan, head of the
"Rebuplican" party, NA Deputy Khachatur Sukiasyan, Secretary of the
"People’s Party of Armenia" Grigor Harutyunyan and Nikol Pushinyan
are on the platform now.

They call the people to be quiet. Among the people we met a girl who
was beaten by policemen early in the morning when she was going to
the university and used tear gas. She was shaking and crying from fear.

You cannot see a policeman near the Myasnikyan monument now. A
policeman confessed that they were not the policemen assaulting on
the people in the Liberty Square in the morning.

Some of them even said that they were not beating people. "There is
special group of policemen who beat, they have committed the crime",
said one of them.

Conferences at the NKR President

01-03-2008

Azat Artsakh Daily,
Republic of Nagorno Karabakh [NKR]

On February 29th a conference took place at the NKR President devoted to the
problem of illumination of Stepanakert, where leaders of corresponding
bodies were invited. The President noted, that the process passed rather
slowly and necessary steps should be taken for quickening it. He especially
emphasized,that it should not be a difference between peripheral and central
districts. The head of the country assigned to finish the process of local
illumination in a possible period of time. The NKR Prime Minister
A.Harutyunian participated in the meeting. — — — — The same day the
President met with the workers of NKR Audit Chamber. The chairman of Audit
Chamber Arthur Mossian informed the head of the country, that the process of
structure’s formation had been already finished and it was ready to realize
valuably its duties. Bako Sahakian wished the structure productive work and
emphasized, that purposeful usage of state means was one of the most
important factors of the state’s development, and in that context the role
of Audit Chamber was very important. According to the President, the
activity of Audit Chamber would be always on the focus of authorities’
attention.

Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s campaign headquarters blames Armenian authorities
for information blockade against population

2008-03-01 18:23:00

ArmInfo. The campaign headquarters of the runner-up in the recent
presidential elections, former President of Armenia Levon Ter-Petrosyan
blamed the Armenian authorities for information blockade against
population.

According to the headquarters’ March 1 statement, the Armenian
authorities used force against the peaceful demonstrators and have
done their best to give as less information to the public as possible
since Saturday morning. On the one hand, Armenian TV channels present
unilateral information (with partial exception of Yerkir Media
channel). On the other hand, the fragments of foreign TV companies’
programs concerning the events in Armenia are not shown by the order
and with the open interference of the authorities. In particular, the
matter concerns the First Channel of Russia, Euronews and CNN. "Levon
Ter-Petrosyan’s campaign headquarters qualifies this as violation of
citizens’ rights to get information, as well as terrorism and blockade
against people", the statement says.