“Haykakan Zhamanak” reports and comments on the end of a two-week standoff between security forces and anti-government gunmen barricaded inside a police compound in Yerevan’s Erebuni district. The paper notes that street gatherings in support of the gunmen continued even after their surrender and the arrests of opposition figures that organized the protests. “It is not clear yet just how long that movement will remain afloat,” it says. “What is clear is that once again it has been proved that the authorities in Armenia are impervious to issues solutions to which have been demanded by just about everyone in recent days.” Serzh Sarkisian underscored this fact with his speech delivered on Monday, concludes the paper.
“Zhoghovurd” says Sarkisian’s speech showed that “he has still not understood why those people embarked on an armed rebellion in our country.” The paper also pounces on his remark that journalists attacked by pro-government thugs in Yerevan on Friday must “forget about” the violence. “Journalists can certainly forgive a lot of things in a Christian manner, but the fact is that there is a stagnant atmosphere of injustice in our country,” it says, adding that nobody was prosecuted for assaulting journalists that covered last year’s “Electric Yerevan” protests. “How long should we keep forgiving?” it asks.
“At any rate, a large part of the society displayed restraint [during the Erebuni standoff,]” writes “Hayots Ashkhar.” “One of the main expectations of the armed group or its leaders was that the existing [popular] discontent will lead to mass protests.” The pro-government paper points out that demonstrations held in Yerevan in support of the gunmen never gained the kind of momentum that could pose a serious threat to the Armenian authorities. “Having said that, let nobody, especially within the government, be deluded by this fact,” it says. “What happened was an extremely serious wake-up call.”
“Aravot” says that public dissatisfaction with the state of affairs in Armenia was at the heart of the armed attack launched by members of the Founding Parliament radical opposition movement. The paper also urges diehard supporters of the gunmen and the government to stop spreading “disinformation.”
(Naira Bulghadarian)