Revolution

[alpha]

The fact that Kocharyan is not elected is not a matter of opinion it’s a meticulously recorded fact by many European observers. If the leader is not elected, and has broken laws continuously how can you expect other citizens to follow the rule of law? Sasun, no there won’t be a second coming of Christ to Armenia, who will sacrifice himself for the good of the people. These kinds of things happen only in myths. Joghovrdi masin mtatsel@ da ughaki legend a, sakayn orenkner@ hargel da kaghakatsiakan partk. I strongly believe that a developing country like Armenia needs a structure to implement laws, and laws can not implemented if the power is usurped. When President’s bodyguard in front of many people kills a person and is let free, when numerous political assassinations go uncovered, when president relies on skinhead bodyguards to bit up journalists, when the only source of alternative information, A1 Plus is closed, when dissent is not tolerated…… this list can go on and on, and I blame the leader of the system for tolerating this situation. My point is not that he is bad and others are good, the point is that he has no respect for the rule of law. The point is not that our president does not have an intellectual capacity to lead; the point is that he is a criminal because he collaborates with criminals (Kuku is just an example). So let the justice be served and the court of law be his judge, not the unruly mob. Remember Causescu in Romania, he was a war hero and many people thought he was loved by people. We saw his miserable end, when he was shot in front of presidential palace. It would be tragic to have the same scenario repeated in Armenia, because people’s patience has its limits.

[Anoushik]

OK, Kocharyan wasn't elected. Who was? Demirjian? The one who couldn't put two simple sentences together? I believe that the majority of the voters made a right choice.

[Sasun]

The fact that Kocharyan is not elected is not a matter of opinion it’s a meticulously recorded fact by many European observers.

Actually that is not the case. What the European observers found is serious shortcomings in 11% (?) of the districts. Nobody really knows the real number of cast votes, so everything said is an opinion. In my opinion the reported percentage difference was so wide in favor of Kocharian that it would have been very hard to explain all the difference because of fraud. There was also fraud from the other camp.

 

Sasun, no there won’t be a second coming of Christ to Armenia, who will sacrifice himself for the good of the people.

 

How do you know? But that's besides the point, that's not what I meant. The person I am looking for is a normal, law abiding and couragous person. He doesn't need to sacrifice his life, all that is needed is to be impartial and self-less. If there are people who sacrifice their lifes for their country, why can't there be people who would sacrifice less? I believe the reason is that our people lack this consciousness. When they have power they place their filial duties above patriotism. It comes from the lack of certain moral principles in our culture.

Law abiding is a form of patriotism. However, it is not part of our culture, but abiding to less important rules is. For example, friendship is a great moral principle, but when the leader of a country places it above patriotism things get screwd up and the coutnry suffers a setback. That's why whoever comes to power, there will be some kuku in his near circle whose interests will be placed above the law, because that is what our culture dictates. To behave otherwise means to defy the culture, and that requires a lot of courage. There is not a single individual in our opposition who has the basic characteristics of a good leader capable of propelling our country from the hole.

[MosJan]

“If the leader is not elected”

 

was that the first time or the second ??? or both ???

 

the fact of the matter is that Rubik is getting little bet of his owe medicine, he is being treated and boycotted by mainly same people that war boycotting LTP.

So as the old saying goes ? what goes around that comes around”

 

Robert was imported : ) to Armenia and presented as the liberator of Artsax, his “fame” was used to bust his election vote- I believe was mostly fraud anyways.

Lets also not forget the outside influence and interests from abroad, someone has vouched for him and still is vouched and standing on his back, otherwise Robert would not of been in the presidential thrown now.

 

“The point is not that our president does not have an intellectual capacity to lead”

he was on a H1 TV last night and the way he was answering to simplest questions was a joke, the man has no vocabulary and intellect, he has this L@KTY look on his face – Aper yes em Vor kam - Taq Puchikneri Shqert – ir kartsiqov mi amborj azg der mankapartezum e woch voq vochinch chi haskanum, yev ir Tv yeluyt@ vor xekatakutyun er, jorovrding inchvro mi ban er asum ? kam hangstatsnum , pastn iyn e yete TV yeluyt e unenum uremn lrjoren e @endunum verchin mi qani shabatnery depqer@. Yev artahaytutyun@ te @endimutyun@ ir dimatsy chi shqertum iyl irar dimats  yev te inqn el karror e shqert kazmakerpel – te - jorovurd@ iren @entrel e vor jorovrdi tsvae@ hoga – yev voch te jorovurd@ ir ( roberty ) hogserov zbarvi

 

 

I’m not in his favor - but also not in favor of a revolution or overthrowing a government since I don’t se the person or the persons who can do his job.

 

By the time any one of as makes it to the presidential palace we will own so many favor’s to so many inside Armenia and outside of Armenia that we will need to close our Eye on some individuals and their behavior.

Kuku is a criminal standing next to Rubik correct but who is standing next to the others, who is standing behind them and what favor are they going to do for them? At what cost ?

 

Alpha jan all I know is something needs to be don, some one has to do it, by who and how ? I don’t know.

[MosJan]

Opposition stakes all

 

The long awaited day of pan-national endless rally prepared and sanctioned by the powers opposing the current administration and dismissing it as anti-national has finally come. Today, April 9, a process feared by many to destabilize the interior political field is to launch at the symbolic for Armenians Independence Square in front of the State Opera and Ballet Theatre.

 

The rally to be held today by opposition powers, now counting 14 parties, is not given a green light either by the Yerevan municipality, nor by the Kentron prefecture office. This move usually signals that the authorities leave space for possible provocations or direct intrusion. Despite this, though, the opposition top figures were in high moods at yesterdays news meeting at the parliament house.

 

Yesterday at noon the two leading opposition parties Justice and National Unity came up with a joint declaration. "Neither repressions, nor the blatant threats of Robert Kocharian or his valets will any further be able to suppress the wave of pan-national struggle aimed against the maintenance of illegal authorities in Armenia, which will gain a new momentum with the April 9 rally in Yerevan",- said the statement.

 

Almost all the top opposition figures gathered to address the news meeting yesterday, except for the deputy Victor Dallakian. According to his teammates he was called to prosecutor’s office to give testimony regarding a "criminal case filed against the Justice bloc and the (whole) nation". Albert Bazeyan, Aram Z. Sargisian, Grigor Harutyunian said that they were also summoned to court, while Stepan Demirchian said that he "received an invitation but turned it down". All the opposition activists, closely watched by law enforcement agencies, are subject to explanatory presence at the prosecutor’s. Instead, the oppositionist leaders welcomed the break in the ruling coalition as parliament spokesman Arthur Baghdasarian, a vigorous proponent of "starting a political dialogue with the opposition" since the home atmosphere "warmed up", criticized the exercise of force by unknown sporty men with shaven heads on journalists at an April 5 National Unity demonstration. The act of harassment of journalists, believed widely both by oppositionists and common citizens to be carried out by anonymous members of law-enforcement agencies, made the opposition leaders to firmly decide that this time no similar repetition will take place.

 

Meeting the parliament chairman Arthur Baghdasarian yesterday Artashes Geghamian and Alexan Karapetian, as well as Victor Dallakian a day earlier, have clarified the opposition’s demand: they will embark on a political dialogue only to consider the smooth change of current administration. Justice bloc has again put forward the need of holding a so-called referendum of trust to check the extent of Armenian citizens’ support to the current executive power, considered to be illegal by oppositionists. Anyway, Baghdasarian rejected the conditions of the opponent camp, which the Hanrapetutyun party explained by the fact that the coalition members Country of Law and ARF Dashnaktsutyun can’t make any proposals unless Kocharian allows them to.

 

Stepan Demirchian said that all the information on the April 5 events and its prior persecutions and arrests of opposition members, as well as all media publications on the matter were thoroughly compiled by them and sent to all 25 embassies in Yerevan and to international competent organizations. Aram Sargisian, head of Hanrapetutyun, explained the threats of authorities to use water sprinklers and armed troops by the intention to disseminate fear among the people, for "they (the authorities) well know that if large masses of people partake in the rally, Kocharian will have to resign. (Yet), a calm power change will take place, and it will be a good lesson for the coming authorities".

 

Artashes Geghamian added that "even if only 10 people attend the rally, these authorities are doomed". He went on saying that certain figures in Artsax call on "going to Yerevan April 9 to save our Robik (Robert Kocharian), but if Robik needs a rescue than it is only from his own surroundings, the axis and roots of which became the criminality".

 

Aram Sargisian was more decisive: "There is no alternative to the power change; the process has launched, and the decision of people is going to be put to life. It may take days, but the change of power is going to happen anyway".

 

How is the opposition going to answer the rude interventions of police force, the barbed wire and possible provocations and violence? Aram Sargisian declared that they have calculated all the possible developments and "have corresponding (counter) steps". Albert Bazeyan said that "any obstacle will be viewed as illegal act. What we are going to do? You will see." Anyway, the opposition leaders found it unlikely that they will be arrested, and the people will remain without leaders. They did also add that if the parliament’s majority does make changes in the law on rallies, then they may review their future steps.

 

Thus, the bridges are not yet fully burnt down.

 

By Karine Danielian

[Arpa]

Does any one know about the latest?

It is now almost midnight in Yerevan

 

Below may be the latest;

http://www.arminfo.am/

[MosJan]

it is the latest at this time.

 

Azg.am has some in Armenian -

[alpha]

For the better or worse the people have decided to take the streets just like they did in 1988. When peoples voice is silenced and they don't have their elected officials in the legislatvie bodies of the country they are left with no choice but to take the streets. People's revolution can finally establish a rule of law in the country we all love and cherish and enthusiasm and hope can again fulfull Armenian hearts. We are like any normal people in the world, and our culture has nothing to do with the junta that rules Armenia today. Blaming Armenians for the junta, would be synonymous to blaming Germans for Hitler. Our people simply wants justice, which can be delivered only by following the rule of law. If President is so confident that he was truely elected, then holding a referendum of confidence should not be an issue at all. What the opposition and 20,000 supporters that were able to overcome all the difficulties and come to the Opera Square want, is referendum of confidence. It will only make him stronger, and prove the world that he is truely the elected leader of the citizens of the Republic of Armenia.

 

This is already the second time in 13 years of independence when the not-elected president has falsified the elections and a year later had to step down.

 

Interesting article from BBC news service.

 

Armenians rally against president

By Chloe Arnold

BBC correspondent in Baku

 

Thousands of protesters have attended a rally in the Armenian capital Yerevan to demand the resignation of President Robert Kocharyan.

The Armenian authorities did not sanction the rally and warned that disorder would not be tolerated.

 

Dozens of opposition activists were arrested earlier in the week for holding a similar demonstration.

 

The rally comes a year after a disputed presidential election which saw an easy victory for Mr Kocharyan.

 

On Monday, police arrested dozens of protesters after violent clashes.

 

Human rights groups have condemned the arrests as well as an attack on two journalists during the demonstration.

 

Georgian example

 

Opposition parties, backed up by international observers, said the vote had not been free and fair.

 

The main opposition leader, Stepan Demirchyan, called for a referendum on the results of the election.

 

But after the constitutional courts turned down his request, he said he was forced to take more radical steps.

 

Many Armenians hoped the country would see an uprising similar to the so-called Rose Revolution in neighbouring Georgia.

 

Tens of thousands of Georgians marched on the home of their President, Eduard Shevardnadze, last November, forcing him to step aside.

 

Many in Armenia blame the current regime for chronic levels of poverty and unemployment.

 

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, as many as a million Armenians have left to seek a better life abroad.

 

Story from BBC NEWS:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/3615147.stm

 

Published: 2004/04/09 20:41:23 GMT

[MosJan]

LA arden sk@sel en $$$$Dramahavaqner@$$$$

vorosh Haykakan Tv ner yerek yev iysor $$$ en havaqum ognelu yev satar kangnelu iys prosesin - yez@ der votqi e sakayn danak qashor rRasabner@ arden patrast en irent gortsin antsnelu.

 

Alpha inchpes vor jorovrdy kamqn e tor iynpes el lini. mi 2 kam 3 taryy heto k@xosenq sra masin, yev kampopenq te inch eyinq uzzum yev vorqanov statsvets, isk hima U hima @entrutyun@ jorovrdinn e !!! husov em jorovrdinn e !

http://armenianow.com/2004/april09/agnes/001.jpg

sakayn hetaqrqir mi xosq e p@t@tum iys orerin - HARTS - um karajarkeyiq vor nor prezident lini ?? - PATASXAN - um vor jorovurd@ orinavor janaparhov @entry -

bolorn el nuyn en asum hetaqrqir e husov linenq iydpes el lini.

[MosJan]

Does any one know about the latest?

It is now almost midnight in Yerevan

 

Below may be the latest;

http://www.arminfo.am/

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Apache/1.3.29 Server at www.arminfo.am Port 80

 

it's the 9th of April and site has reaching the bandwidth limit

[MosJan]

by azg.am

 

OPPOSITION RALLY STARTED: HOW SERIOUS IS IT?

 

The Independence square of downtown Yerevan packed with masses of people yesterday, counted by independent sources as reaching 10 to 15 thousand, reminisced in some way the days of 1988 and 1991 national revival. The feelings of the people, though, seemed to be different.

 

As the opposition powers organized their decisive rally signaling the process of power change, mostly people that are dissatisfied with their present life conditions attended the gathering that kicked off at around 4 PM, after the opposition activists could fix the loud-speakers and microphones. As the opposition leaders were voicing popular slogans "Kocharian, leave!" and "Unity!", the last one not fitting any context but being a popular echo of National Movement years, only several hundred people were taking up the torch to echo the words back. The rest of the contingent was listening with silence, only time from time several elderly people shouting that they hear and agree with what "their leaders" say.

 

The event, though, was quite an interesting show for those who like to watch, as well as for journalists who look for an extra chance to snatch an interesting story. The policemen seemed quite nice to media men after the protests following the April 5 rally when the journalists were physically harassed by unknown men believed by many to be anonymous law-enforcers, hence the cameras and recorders were flashing everywhere.

 

Anyway, while for some the rally had a meaning of life and death, the contrast amid the people in the first lines of the gathered crowd and those in the last lines seemed incomparable. An elderly woman’s heartfelt squeaky voice when uttering "Kocharian, go away!" was supported by teenagers shouts who waved flags and anti-government posters in front of cameras. These sounds were funnily accompanied with laughter of groups of well-fed young men standing just several lines behind the elderly woman. Although the authorities have "installed" their partisans in the crowd, it was not only them who were indifferent towards what’s going on. As the last lines of the crowd was thinning at the end of the square towards the green territory where the open cafes are situated, one would have difficulty to say who is who there. Next to several Europeans gazing with keen interest into the crowd, with their digital camera working non-stop, a long haired Diaspora-Armenian was standing with a bottle of cola in his hands. A little farther three beautiful ladies were pushing their way through the crowd, in an obvious manner to attract attention of the young men. At the café right next to the square one would have a great difficulty to find a vacant table to sit at. All the café tables were occupied, mostly by plump men who helped themselves to beer and cracked salty peanuts, watching the demonstration and discussing politics from a comfortable angle.

 

Though the law-enforcers seemed to be tolerant to journalists, the harshness was yet to be displayed. As the lower rank policemen in civilian outfits were tracing down the most active participants of the opposition, they were bidding a green light form their bosses standing further away on the sidewalks going round the Opera and Ballet Theatre’s green area. Once, receiving an eye wink, three sporty men twisted the hands of one of the participants and rushed him out of the crowd to push him into a Soviet GAZ 2106 car, which drove off on a high gear immediately. This, though, was the debut of the mass arrests. By 11 PM an estimated 100 activists were detained.

 

However, there were people who came with a sole purpose to add their part in ousting current authorities from their posts. Among the protestors were groups from all over Armenia- Lori, Shirak, Kotayk, Armavir, Gegharkunik. Many residents of Etchmiadzin and nearby villages walked to Yerevan to partake in the rally, as the law-enforcers had closed the roads banning any vehicles from entering the Armenian capital. There were people from Kotayk marz that came two days earlier and stayed in Yerevan for they knew that the authorities would close the roads. They were the ones that were repeating every slogan their beloved leaders were voicing at the rally, confident of one thing: they will go to the end to achieve their goal.

 

As evening came, around 400 people sat together on the steps of the Opera House entrance with the opposition leaders to protest the very fact of the current authorities being in power, their "sitting" strike to continue as long as Messrs Kocharian and Sarkisian deign to resign

[Arpa]

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Apache/1.3.29 Server at www.arminfo.am Port 80

 

it's  the 9th of April and site has reaching the bandwidth limit

What does this really mean?

Is it that they are having too many hits?

It's funny. I must have been the last one to open it.

 

Other than that, judging from the item from AZG above the whole thing was a fiasco. One report estimated the crowd at 10,000 and another at 20,000. Then again from said report it seems like the major part of the participants were just curious spectators and bystanders. They don't seem to have popular support, the leaders and organizers must have deluded themselves blinded with personal and political ambitions.

Just like one forumer was lamenting as to why Armenia cannot recruit "accomplished" (diasporan) diplomats like that woman French diplomat of Georgian origin. Has anyone heard of her miraculous :) feats yet?

 

Is it "monkey see monkey do" again to imitate the so called "rose revolution" in Tbilisi?

[Sasun]

The most disturbing thing about oppositionists is that they are motivated by the feeling of revenge, i.e. Demirchian is revenging for his father, and Aram is revenging for his brother. That is totally destructive for the country, I bet if they ever succeed the first thing they will do is to hang Kochiarian or something in that kind. Of course, Armen Sargisian who is in jail now for murder will be set free. Talk about saving the people...

 

The only reason these two are politicians (let alone leading oppositionists) is the Oct 27 terrorism act. These guys have no merits at all to be where they are standing.

 

The other disturbing thing is that these guys capitalize on some of the people's negative feelings towards Artsaxis. They are building a support base chanting anti-Artsax clan slogans. I don't think they care about Artsax at all.

[ARR]

In all that is going on in Armenian, I have discovered that we Armenians are very stubborn in nature. Clearly a portion of population thinks Kocharian is illegitimate, while the other portion thinks he is legitimately elected President. What is interesting is that both sides are 100% sure in their beliefs. Even on this forum you either pro-opposition and hate Kocharian, or pro-government and hate opposition. Shouldn’t we be a little more forgiving? We need to learn to loose gracefully. Do we have to whip, create mess, and loose our minds when are not successful? Even in sports competition is not free of thirty tricks like steroids, dirty play, etc. Well, politics is all together a dirty business. How can you be completely clean? It is not possible.

 

Opposition is in loose-loose situation. They lost and they don’t have chance even being inspired after Georgia's Rose-revolution. They had two options after loosing. One is to return to their jobs in National Assembly and prove with actual work their intent to improve people's life. Get distinguished in work and be more prepared for the next presidential election. Or, take to streets, polarize population, make irresponsible statements, provoke authorities to arrests, hurt Armenia's international standing, and still fail. But in later case also loose their reputation as able politicians. How long will people that are unhappy with current government support political losers?

[Sasun]

ARR, you have some valid points, the opposition is a bunch of unprincipled people. But to say that the opposition is provoking arrests doesn't seem right. If I go to a square and protest I am expressing my wishes, right or wrong, that's my voice. I have a consitutional right to do so. To arrest me while I am exercising my constitutional right has no excuse and is clearly illegal. That's how tyranny starts, and it must be stopped.

[Sip]

What does this really mean?

Is it that they are having too many hits?

It's funny. I must have been the last one to open it.

Yes probably too much load on the server. It seems to be working now.

 

Mos, the bandwidth limit may be hourly, daily, etc ... doesn't have to be only monthly.

[alpha]

How are these, so called elected officials, going to show their faces in the streets of Yerevan after these events? How will they look into people’s eyes after flocking the streets with riot police? Do they even have the feeling of shame or they are immune from it?

 

Graceful exit like Ter-Petrosian could be the best outcome for dissolving the political crisis in Armenia. Why is the Kocharyan clan so confrontational and not willing to compromise? Te nrank tqats unen joghovrdi kartsiki vra? Hasarakutyan zargatsman vra? Every political crisis in civilized countries is solved through compromise not through barbed wire and tear gas? If the president is confident about his popularity and is truly an elected head of the state than a referendum of confidence will only bolster his popularity and discharge the negativity lingering in Armenia since last year's elections. Their fear of referendum makes the populace even more suspicious of them.

 

 

http://www.armenialiberty.org/armeniarepor...88E34FA8F83.ASP

 

Riot Police Stop Opposition March To Kocharian Residence

 

 

By Emil Danielyan

 

Thousands of people were locked in a potentially violent standoff with security forces in downtown Yerevan late Monday as the Armenian opposition’s campaign for President Robert Kocharian’s resignation appeared to reach its climax.

 

Hundreds of police and interior troops in heavy anti-riot gear stopped the opposition supporters from approaching Kocharian’s official residence, ready to use water cannons, tear gas and stun grenades. The two sides faced off through two rows of barbed wire unrolled across Marshal Baghramian Avenue, about two hundred meters away from the heavily guarded presidential palace. Other streets leading to it were also blocked.

 

Opposition leaders vowed to keep the supporters on the street until the authorities cave in. “Dear people, we are going stay here together with the soldiers until Kocharian resigns,” Aram Sarkisian of the Artarutyun alliance told the crowd. “We think he will be sensible enough to resign under popular pressure without bloodshed and upheavals.”

 

“We are only meters away from victory,” declared fellow oppositionist Victor Dallakian.

 

There was no immediate reaction to the latest protest from Kocharian who has repeatedly rejected the opposition demands. A statement by the presidential office said the Armenian leader met with Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian to discuss among other things his upcoming visits abroad. There was no word about the domestic political situation.

 

Artarutyun and its ally, the National Unity Party (AMK) made no attempts to break through the formidable security barrier, with opposition marshals at pains to hold the people back from the barbed wire. The opposition leaders made only emotional appeals to the security forces not to protect the ruling regime.

 

“You are protecting someone who violated the constitution. Please open the way. We will take no illegal actions,” AMK Artashes Geghamian screamed, climbing on top of a van that carried opposition loudspeakers.

 

“You are blocking the future of Armenia.” “We have only peaceful intentions. “Do not carry out unconstitutional orders.”

 

Several opposition lawmakers were then sent to meet with parliament speaker Artur Baghdasarian but were denied entry into the nearby National Assembly building. The organizers also demanded a meeting with the national police chief Hayk Harutiunian and live airtime on television. The authorities were unlikely to meet the demands.

 

Meanwhile, the mood among the protesters turned festive as folk music blared through the amplifiers, setting off spontaneous performances of the traditional Armenian circle dance. A group of young men sat down on the ground to sing popular songs to a guitar accompaniment.

 

Some protesters said they are ready to stay there for days. “I’ve brought my coat, have food in my pockets and am going to spend the night here,” said scholar Sergey Martirosian.

 

“They will surrender without a fight,” claimed an elderly man who arrived from a village in the central Aragatsotn region.

 

The march was preceded by yet another rally in the city’s Freedom Square attended by an estimated 15,000 people. Opposition leaders hope that their ranks will swell as the protests drag on. Dallakian in particular pledged to attract more supporters from the provinces that have effectively been cut off from the capital in recent days.

[alpha]

Interesting article from Armenianow.com

 

http://www.armenianow.com/2004/april09/arts/duryan/index.asp

 

Conducting a Challenge for Change: Rejected maestro returns to rally opposition

 

After leaving Armenia and vowing to never return, veteran conductor Ohan Duryan has returned to lend his name to the movement of political opposition afoot in Yerevan.

Two years ago Duryan left in anger, when Ministry of Culture officials revoked his “life time” contract as chief conductor and musical director of the State Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet.

The 80-year old conductor who has performed world wide has since signed a five year contract with the Moscow Symphonic Orchestra. Rosiyskaya Gazeta newspaper in Moscow called him “one of the world’s greatest conductors”.

The conductor’s bitter departure from Armenia was punctuated by him refusing his Mesrop Mashtots and Movses Khorenatsi awards – the highest honors the State bestows on a civilian in Armenia.

He has since spoken out harshly against the regime that he believes betrayed him. And he has written letters to the president that have gone unanswered. But Duryan says his return to join the opposition is not an act of vengeance.

“I am above it,” he says. “Even though I was greatly hurt by the authorities, I am not out for revenge. They will get their punishment from above.”

Duryan says his return is an act of patriotism. He recently attended a meeting of intellectuals where he challenged compatriots to lobby for a change of power.

“I am an artist and I don’t do politics, however the arrogant activity of today’s government and the miserable state of the people cannot leave me indifferent,” he told Armenianow. “I cannot stay silent, that’s the reason why I joined the opposition and I want to help them. That’s why I appealed to the president himself asking him to address his conscience and to see whether it is possible to rule a country with weapons, tanks, guns, barb-wire -- with beating innocent people who wanted to reveal (ballot) falsifications, with terrorist acts. The president, the head of the state in general, has to count with his conscience and do what his conscience tells him.”

Following his own conscience, Duryan is in the mix of a movement that puts him at odds with the government. He says it also has landed his name on “a list of dangerous people”.

According to Duryan the situation is not pleasant for other artists as well, but not all of them keep to their principles.

“There are devoted people among the opposition, however there are also many of those who are obsessed with power mania,” says Duryan. “I respect those intellectuals who remained at their positions, like Silva Kaputikyan (poetess), Gohar Gasparyan (singer), Tigran Levonyan (singer), Vladimir Abajyan (actor), Khoren Palyan (musicologist). These are people who did not abase themselves to please the president and get some benefits.”

The press secretary for the Justice Bloc, the parliamentary representation leading the opposition, says Duryan’s stand is significant.

“People were really waiting for the words of their favorite artists. It is of great importance for society and it of course has great impact,” says Ruzanna Khachatryan.

Duryan says that his wounds have healed somewhat by his return, and that his main concern is from seeing his countrymen in difficult conditions.

“Those who cannot put up with the situation leave. Did we proclaim independent Armenia in order to empty it from Armenians? About a century ago there was a genocide, but now the emptying of Armenia is no less a genocide,” he says.

On March 25 the Chairman of the National Assembly Artur Baghdasaryan met with Duryan and during the meeting he said that it was everyone’s mistake to treat the world known conductor that way.

“I shall do everything to correct that mistake. We’ll see what we can do,” said Baghdasaryan, during a televised interview.

Minister of Culture Tamar Poghosyan has so far been silent.

“I don’t know that woman. If she wants to meet me she’s welcome to invite me,” Duryan says. “Anyway, I don’t have a position anymore that can be taken away. I have nothing to loose. Today, I only have a hope that the opposition will be firm in their position, and the scum who are in power will leave without bloodshed.”

[Arts&Arms]

This whole thing reminds me of Tigran mets and his son who betrayed him in order to get the throne instead of his older brother

[bellthecat]

If I go to a square and protest I am expressing my wishes, right or wrong, that's my voice. I have a consitutional right to do so. To arrest me while I am exercising my constitutional right has no excuse and is clearly illegal. That's how tyranny starts, and it must be stopped.

You have gone far past the starting stages of tyranny when that sort of thing happens.

 

It all sounds very sad, after all - democracy and justice shouldn't be that hard to get right in a small country, where everyone knows everyone else, and where there are no troublesome minorities or influential outside powers. Ah well, it's their country, let them sort it out.

[bellthecat]

Hmm ...anyone think that part of the problem with Armenia is that independence came too easily, and too suddenly, after the collapse of the Soviet Union?

[Twilight Bark]

Hmm ...anyone think that part of the problem with Armenia is that independence came too easily, and too suddenly, after the collapse of the Soviet Union?

Independence was juxtaposed with the ascent of military concerns and therefore the military itself. When the military is the midwife of a "democracy", you can expect long decades of painful plastic surgery in order to fix the damage inflicted upon birth. Look at Turkey or Pakistan for a couple of quick examples. India, on the other hand, against all odds, remains a fairly healthy democracy, nothwithstanding its other cultural "defects".

[alpha]

It's hard to believe there are any Armenians left who support current dictatorship in Armenia after the bloodshed organized by them. The monster revealed its face by beating peaceful demonstrators.

 

http://www.armenialiberty.org/armeniarepor...2E31012E82C.ASP

 

 

Panic And Mass Arrests As Opposition Protest Suppressed

 

 

By Emil Danielyan and Hrach Melkumian

 

Armenia’s opposition faced the worst ever government crackdown in the early hours of Tuesday after its peaceful demonstration in Yerevan was brutally dispersed by security forces using water cannons and stun grenades.

 

Thousands of people ran away in panic after being suddenly attacked by what appeared to be special baton-wielding police units. Scores of them were badly injured in the chaotic scenes. More precise information on the casualties was not immediately known.

 

The offices of the main opposition parties were reportedly ransacked and dozens of their activists arrested. At least three members of parliament affiliated with the Artarutyun alliance and the National Unity Party were said to be among them. And the editor of a leading pro-opposition newspaper, “Haykakan Zhamanak,” said one of his reporters, Avetis Babajanian, disappeared while another one, Hayk Gevorgian, was in intensive care in hospital after being beaten up by the police.

 

The violent showdown put an end to an eight-hour standoff between the demonstrators and the security forces on the city’s Marshal Baghramian Avenue leading to President Robert Kocharian’s residence. Some 15,000 protesters marched towards the presidential palace from Freedom Square but were stopped by hundreds of riot police and interior troops. They did not attempt to break through the security barrier.

 

Tension eased as the protest, seen as the culmination of the opposition campaign for Kocharian’s resignation, turned into an open-air festivity, with jubilant participants dancing to pop and folk music tunes that blared through loudspeakers. There were still between 2,000 and 3,000 people on the scene at two o’clock in the morning when the attack began from at least two directions.

 

Deafening stun grenade explosions and jets of water quickly spread a panic after the police began indiscriminately beating the protesters. Some of them tried to fight back but were quickly overpowered by the advancing force helped by darkness. The grenades continued to be fired at the crowd even while it fled down the street only to be confronted by other police forces at the nearest intersection.

 

One man screamed in pain after being directly hit by a grenade. An eyewitness said a large group of police officers beat two fleeing protesters about 200 meters away from Baghramian Avenue.

 

Deprived of a safe retreat path, the opposition supporters ran chaotically in various directions, sneaking into smaller streets crossing Baghramian Avenue and their courtyards. About 30 people, among them two RFE/RL correspondents, scaled a wall to find refuge in the garden of a private house.

 

“They hit me with a truncheon and pumped gas,” said a young man with a bloodied face and a blanket wrapped around his body. “There were no soldiers among the attackers. They were all special police with red berets.”

 

Another man, a 56-year-old villager, also had ghastly wounds on his face. He said he was toppled and kicked by three security officers.

 

“They were hitting so hard. What they did was shameful,” an elderly woman recounted, crying.

 

The opposition supporters, too scared to speak loudly, were joined by AMK leader Artashes Geghamian and Artarutyun’s Aram Sarkisian moments later. The two bitter opponents of Kocharian were accompanied by a handful of bodyguards. They both described as “barbaric” the authorities’ response to the demonstrations and vowed to continue their campaign for regime change.

 

“I can say for certain that in this situation Mr. Kocharian will be unable to govern. It is impossible to break the people’s will with truncheons,” Geghamian told RFE/RL. “The people once again saw what the authorities are capable of.”

 

“This once again proved that Kocharian can not stay in this country and must go,” Sarkisian said for his part.

 

Both leaders said they were hit by the police. The third top opposition leader, Stepan Demirchian, was also in the crowd but escaped unscathed. According to Demirchian, “many” demonstrators were hospitalized with serious injuries.

 

Geghamian, Sarkisian and the rest of the fugitive group were then invited into the house by the hosts for safety reasons. Police cars, meanwhile, could be heard racing through the city center. Shocked and exhausted, the people sat there silently, hoping to leave the hideout after dawn. One of them, a villager from the northwestern region of Shirak, helped these correspondents find a safe way back to the newsroom.

 

In the meantime, police broke into the AMK headquarters, located across the street from RFE/RL’s Yerevan bureau, arresting several people, including Geghamian’s deputy Aleskan Karapetian. Similar raids were reported by Sarkisian’s Hanrapetutyun Party and Demirchian’s People’s Party (HZhK). They said the police smashed office equipment and took away dozens of activists.

 

Apart from Karapetian, at least two other opposition lawmakers, Vartan Mkrtchian and Shavarsh Kocharian, were in police custody. Kocharian (no relation to the Armenian president) spoke with RFE/RL from a police van parked inside the parliament compound which also lies on Baghramian Avenue.

 

A police spokesman rejected the arrest numbers cited by the opposition as a fraud, but refused to provide any official figures. He said the information could be released later in the day. There were also no official statements explaining the excessive use of force.

 

Some of the opposition leaders said the crackdown will not stop the campaign of demonstrations. “We will definitely hold more rallies,” Sarkisian said. “I think entire Armenia will rise up. Kocharian has only accelerated his departure.”

 

However, Freedom Square, the main venue for the opposition rallies, was filled with scores of police officers and vehicles shortly after midnight and is unlikely to be available for further anti-Kocharian gatherings.

[Accelerated]

what a disgrace we have become - truelly, a medieval fiefdom run by a petty princeling

[gurgen]

Don't forget backed and assisted by his ugly goons, put in place for friendship instead of political skill <_<