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Ter-Petrosyan - The Chief Oganizer Of "March 1"

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  • Ter-Petrosyan - The Chief Oganizer Of "March 1"

    TER-PETROSYAN - THE CHIEF OGANIZER OF "MARCH 1"
    Lilit Poghosyan

    Hayots Ashkhar
    Published on March 06, 2008

    Yesterday, during regular meeting with the journalists, President
    ROBERT KOCHARYAN first expressed condolences to the relatives of the
    people who had died as a result of the massive disorders organized
    on March 1

    Head of the Republic expressed belief that "imposing a state of
    emergency was a must. If that method hadn't been applied, the losses
    would be greater and the consequences - much graver. The complete
    picture of the events will be restored by each minute. There are a lot
    of materials and video records, and this enables the law enforcement
    agencies to make proper assessments and carry out activities of
    relevant volumes."

    Despite the unprecedented nature of the number and "geography" of the
    people involved in the criminal case instituted at the beginning of
    spring in connection with the "criminal revolution", the investigative
    group is entirely capable of restoring the complete picture of the
    incident and, on the recommendation of the President, inform the public
    on daily basis "what is being done, in what volumes and direction".

    The President divided the participants of the disorders into three
    groups, "The first are the organizers who arranged the gatherings
    of the people in front of the Mayor's Office; as a result, serious
    clashes were provoked." The latter can conventionally be divided into
    two parts: 'hawks" which simply "provoked clashes in a very aggressive
    manner. The most outstanding figure among them was Nikol Pashinyan.

    But there were also such people as David Shahnazaryan who, realizing
    that the situation was going beyond control, tried to appease the
    crowd. But the crowd mostly obeyed the provokers."

    The second group includes "those who organized attacks on the police by
    using arms and explosives. The responsibility for the victims mostly
    falls upon this particular group. Their activities caused deaths
    and a lot of people were wounded. There are 130 wounded people,
    the majority being policemen. And those attacks on the police bore
    an organized nature."

    The third group consists of the so-called "peaceful demonstrators"
    who did not participate in the attacks on the law enforcers; instead,
    they actively participated in the plunder. The approaches towards
    these groups will be naturally dependent upon the degree of the
    dangerousness of their deeds.

    Nevertheless, R. Kocharyan is convinced that "it will be very
    unfair if, without punishing the organizers and perpetrators, the
    law enforcers impose measures on the people who fell prey to those
    demonstrations. Everyone should receive the kind of punishment he
    deserves, the kind of punishment he has earned by his activity. And of
    course, it is first of all necessary to punish the organizers, those
    who drove the people out of control, turning the crowd into a mob.

    And no one in the course of history has ever managed to control a
    mob. When you gather people, you must also bear responsibility for
    them and think about the possible consequences." It is necessary
    to demonstrate a special attitude towards those who used arms and
    explosives, "It is approximately known to us in what circles they were
    searched, but it should be mentioned that both the organizers and
    the people belonging to that stratum are simply evading the justice
    system now."

    Can the state of emergency be extended or, vice versa, removed ahead
    of time? "The state of emergency was declared for a period of 20 days,
    and I presently see no necessity for either extending or reducing
    that time limit. We must first of all try to clarify the list and
    the place of the organizers. Before removing the state of emergency,
    we must be confident that illegal actions of the type will not
    be repeated. Today there is no such confidence because people who
    have used arms and explosives are there in the street. Unless we
    have the clear-cut answers to those questions, we cannot remove the
    state of emergency and then become faced with graver consequences,"
    R. Kocharyan is convinced.

    In response to the question of the journalist from the Georgian
    "Roustavi" TV Channel, the President touched upon the most recent
    tensions on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border zone. "The Azeris occupied
    one of the Armenian positions, but after prompt and decisive return
    operations the status quo was restored. There are two injured people
    from the Armenian side.

    Our Ministry of Defense contacted the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense,
    and as a result, an agreement was reached on discontinuing the
    firing. Our positions were fired from mine throwers. Nothing of the
    kind had happened for a long time. I believe we'll manage to settle
    the situation and restore the ceasefire regime.

    Although Azerbaijan has decided that the current situation in Armenia
    has blunted the vigilance of the NK armed forces or some large military
    subdivisions have been moved to Armenia from Karabakh. There's
    nothing of the kind; the efficiency of the Armenian forces is on a
    proper level. But I don't think it is politically correct to use such
    situations with other purposes."

    As regards the dialogue with the pro-Ter-Petrosyan opposition, the
    President made the following statement, "They themselves have refused
    to have a dialogue with this particular part of the Opposition. This
    was mentioned many times during the rallies. Ter-Petrosyan announced
    that his dwelling was the Freedom Square from where he was to be
    taken to the presidential palace.

    Such statements block the path for a dialogue.

    Besides, the newly elected President of Armenia almost immediately
    expressed willingness to cooperate with all the pro-Opposition forces;
    almost all the candidates responded to his offer, with the exception
    of Mr. Ter-Petrosyan.

    We have always been for a dialogue. Simply, one of the candidates
    relied on the radical electorate and was trying to polarize the
    situation to the maximum. Perhaps, his electorate was not inclined to
    a conversation" or maybe, he avoided a dialogue for fear of losing the
    "efficiency" of that electorate; and we all became the eyewitness of
    such efficiency.

    Why wasn't LTP "given the opportunity" to join the activists
    crowded near the Mayor's Office and guard them against spontaneous
    violence? "That thesis does not, mildly speaking, correspond to
    the reality. What's the idea of the statement 'he wasn't given
    the opportunity'? Who prevented him from going and joining the
    demonstrators?" R. Kocharyan said in response to the question.

    LTP's bodyguards were not obliged to do anything, and they refused
    to be present at the illegal protest of the "defendant", but "he
    was free to go there without guards. And if he was afraid for his
    own security, he should have been concerned about the security of
    those who had gathered the. He should have been manly enough to go
    and participate in the demonstration. But the goals were different."

    By the way, L. Ter-Petrosyan informed the President through "third
    persons", i.e. the National Security officials, that he wanted
    to go and appease the people. And the response was, "We will only
    welcome that; if you can, go and appease them." But instead, the
    revolutionary leader presented an ultimatum that he intended to lead
    his own people to the Freedom Square and continue the demonstration
    boom for an additional period of 15 days. Furthermore, the ultimatum
    was presented after the situation was beyond control and the barricaded
    mob attacked the policemen with clubs and metal poles.

    "Do you imagine what would have happened if the mob had reached the
    Opera along Mashtots Avenue? What would have been the situation in the
    capital city? He was told that the offer was delayed," R. Kocharyan
    noted, expressing a hesitation as to how that person could have sat
    at home the whole night, knowing that his proponents were plundering
    shops, setting cars on fire and rebelling against the law enforcers.

    What's much more extraordinary according to the President is that
    Ter-Petrosyan refused to receive the Catholicos (supreme patriarch) of
    All Armenians. His Holiness had previously informed of his intention
    to visit LTP with a peacemaking mission. Even though the President
    didn't believe in the effectiveness of the meeting, he welcomed the
    initiative saying, "Even if there is a small likelihood to attain
    some result, it must be done."

    But what happened is unbelievable. "His Holiness went there and wasn't
    simply let in. It's just perplexing. I would never have imagined that
    any Armenian in any part of the world could refuse to receive His
    Holiness in his place. Perhaps, it seemed to him that he was riding
    a horse, and the authorities were in panic; or, maybe, he thought
    that I had asked His Holiness to visit him and considered that the
    meeting was not advantageous to him." Thus, he missed the chance of
    overcoming the situation in a more or less dignified manner.

    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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