Suzanne Simonian, a spokeswoman for Founding Parliament, tells “Haykakan Zhamanak” that Armenians must continue the anti-government struggle that was launched by gunmen affiliated with the radical opposition group. “The people must dictate their will, even belatedly,” she says. “Whether that is done by taking to the streets or taking other civil disobedience actions, there has already been a spark … If the people decide to stay at home even at this moment, the challenges facing the country are so serious and the government’s inability to confront them so obvious that there will be another outburst sooner or later.”
“Zhoghovurd” denounces Armenia’s Investigative Committee for prosecuting about a dozen opposition members on charges of inciting “mass disturbance” during Yerevan rallies held in support of the Founding Parliament gunmen. The paper blames the Armenian police for violence that marred one of those rallies held on Friday. “All unlawful actions there were committed by law-enforcement officers and neighborhood thugs enjoying police backing,” it claims.
“Aravot” says that President Serzh Sarkisian was right to tell the gunmen and their backers that Armenia will not be thrust into the kind of internal strife that gripped Lebanon in the 1970s and 1980s. “Those who were brought up by those traditions must come to terms with the fact that they are obliged to live in Armenia under totally different rules and mentality,” editorializes the paper. “Armenia must also not become [a county like] North Korea or Uzbekistan.” It says that it is even more important for Armenia to preserve its sovereignty in the face of what it calls Russian attempts to control its domestic affairs and foreign policy. To that end, Armenia must pull out of the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union and Collective Security Treaty Organization, concludes “Aravot.”
(Tigran Avetisian)