“Chorrord Ishkhanutyun” says the main objective of the Armenian authorities in the past four months has been to make everyone forget the deaths of ten people during the March 1 clashes in Yerevan. “At first they seemed to be succeeding in that,” says the opposition paper. “But eventually, under pressure from the people and the international community, the regime had to not only recognize some of the dead persons as victims but to publicly admit that at least three persons were killed by policemen … To put it simply, the regime has not managed to cover up the murder cases.”
“Haykakan Zhamanak” says that instead of arguing over the number of people who attended last week’s opposition rally in Yerevan the Armenian media should focus on more substantive issues. “For example, the facts that the people have not calmed down since February, that big and peaceful rallies took place for ten consecutive days, that there was March 1-2, that we have so many political prisoners, that there seems no end to the courts’ buffoonery, that someone who did not spare his life for the homeland can not get citizenship, that one newspaper editor is imprisoned and another is in hiding, that a person can be forced into a suicide attempt and so on,” says the paper.
Galust Sahakian, a parliament deputy from the governing Republican Party of Armenia (HHK), assures “Hayots Ashkhar” that Levon Ter-Petrosian and other opposition leaders were “confused” during their last rally. “The rally was scheduled for 6 p.m. but began two hours later,” he says. “This proved that even though they wanted to hold a rally for four consecutive months, they had no scenario, no goal, nothing to say. And there were no new thoughts in their speeches.” Sahakian claims that all the organizers of the rally wanted to do is to provoke “new clashes.”
“A rhetorical question hangs in the air,” writes “Azg.” “Should we hate or love the authorities so much? We should not love or hate the authorities. The authorities are the same in all countries. We should just be able to demand things from the authorities. Oppositions have been the same at all times. It’s just that the [current Armenian] opposition would not have sought power in that way had it felt that power means only service.”
(Armen Dulian)
“Haykakan Zhamanak” says that instead of arguing over the number of people who attended last week’s opposition rally in Yerevan the Armenian media should focus on more substantive issues. “For example, the facts that the people have not calmed down since February, that big and peaceful rallies took place for ten consecutive days, that there was March 1-2, that we have so many political prisoners, that there seems no end to the courts’ buffoonery, that someone who did not spare his life for the homeland can not get citizenship, that one newspaper editor is imprisoned and another is in hiding, that a person can be forced into a suicide attempt and so on,” says the paper.
Galust Sahakian, a parliament deputy from the governing Republican Party of Armenia (HHK), assures “Hayots Ashkhar” that Levon Ter-Petrosian and other opposition leaders were “confused” during their last rally. “The rally was scheduled for 6 p.m. but began two hours later,” he says. “This proved that even though they wanted to hold a rally for four consecutive months, they had no scenario, no goal, nothing to say. And there were no new thoughts in their speeches.” Sahakian claims that all the organizers of the rally wanted to do is to provoke “new clashes.”
“A rhetorical question hangs in the air,” writes “Azg.” “Should we hate or love the authorities so much? We should not love or hate the authorities. The authorities are the same in all countries. We should just be able to demand things from the authorities. Oppositions have been the same at all times. It’s just that the [current Armenian] opposition would not have sought power in that way had it felt that power means only service.”
(Armen Dulian)