Armenia: Eight Dead, State of Emergency Declared
Some of us knew that this was bound to happen since last October when the former president, Levon Ter-Petrossian, made his political comeback in time for the 19 February 2008 presidential election in Armenia. That is, that there would be post-election clashes and blood would be shed. As it happened, in the following months the language of hate and confrontation was used almost constantly by nearly all candidates contesting the vote, and in the past week it became obvious that it was only a matter of time before our worst fears would be realized.
On Saturday 1 March, that inevitable eventuality came true. At least eight people died in clashes between police, soldiers and opposition supporters. Shops were looted, cars set on fire, molotov cocktails were thrown, and in addition to the fatalities known so far, 16 servicemen and 18 protesters were wounded in shooting between the two sides. Each side blames the other and protests their innocence while the majority of residents in the Armenian capital, Yerevan, resigned themselves to the worst case of election-related violence in the country’s short history as an independent state.
The clashes were sparked by the dispersal of the ten-day unsanctioned occupation of Yerevan’s central Liberty Square by supporters of the former president turned radical opposition leader protesting the outcome of the presidential election which international observers declared “mainly democratic,” but which others considered should have gone to a second round. Marilisa Lorusso’s blog sets the background for the dream of a pro-democracy movement that soon turned into a nightmare.
In Armenia the day of reckoning came. Anticipated by some politically- flavoured arrests of Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s supporters, the rally in Opera Square of the opposition has been dispersed with force. […] The totally peaceful rally, at the moment of the police intervention – early in the morning –, was not even threatening the traffic, let alone the State security. […].
For sure, from then on, the situation only deteriorated, with increased polarization and radicalization.
New statements, from opposition forces, previously ready to move against the government on legal bases, like the Heritage party, marked a fiery condemnation: […] Unfortunately these words, uttered the 1st, precisely foresaw new violence in the streets, that went far beyond the worse expectations.
The full post is available on Global Voices Online.
What do you actually mean by “unsanctioned occupation”. Can’t the citizens of Armenia gather in the Opera square and express their will, no matter right or wrong ? Or if a person stands in the Opera square, then he is an “occupant” ? And who is to blame for the fact that our beloved government didn’t sanction the demonstration ? I mean, are you viewing sitizens of Armenia as “occupationalists” ?
What will the next step be ? “Occupants leave Armenia !”, “Armenia is not for Armenians, it’s a resort for Armenian-Americans for their summer vacation ?”. Wow.
Comment by Armen — March 15, 2008 @ 6:59 am
Actually, the law states clearly that political demonstrations need the permission of the municipality. Moreover, nobody has the right to control the movement of others there at the same time as the opposition did, pitch tents in Liberty Square, camp overnight, piss and crap in the park, burn fires, and uproot metal benches surrounding the square. I think that’s pretty obvious, don’t you?
And that’s even forgetting the fact that we’re talking about 20,000 people gathered to hear speech after speech promoting hatred between Armenians and calling for the overthrow of the state. That’s pretty much illegal anywhere. Anyway, the organizers did not receive permission to hold the rallies — and nobody has the right to turn the square into some kind of gypsy camp during the evenings — and whether you like the law or not, that makes it illegal.
Comment by Onnik — March 18, 2008 @ 3:19 pm