Epress.am News from Armenia
Yerevan mayor Karen Karapetyan, in an interview with Ekho Moskvy (“Echo of Moscow”) radio, responded to a question how relationships between municipal authorities and the opposition are built in the context of outdoor rallies, considering that the opposition didn’t get permission to host the upcoming rally in Liberty Square.
Karapetyan, in particular, said, “In fact, the opposition has received permission for a rally, just not in the venue it wants, but in another area 500–700 meters away. I think that there isn’t a situation in any city in the world that requires an opposition rally must be held in a central square.
“I am not a politician; I try as much as possible to distance myself from politics. We manage and want to ensure comfortable conditions for our citizens, regardless of their party affiliation.
“The Republican Party [of Armenia] proposed my candidacy for this position. And, naturally, as a recommended manager, I am accountable to them. But I can’t say that during proposing my candidacy as mayor the Republican Party gave me any party assignments. I was only assigned to create the best possible comfortable environment in the city.
“We, in fact, give everyone the chance to speak. Maybe not in the place that they want, but we don’t give the same area to others in the same way. And we note this in discussions with ambassadors of Western countries.
“For example, in Washington or, I don’t know, in Brussels, do they give the opposition space in a central square, if that causes any trouble to their citizens? No. But when we don’t do that here, they say there’s no freedom of speech,” he said.
Recall, Liberty Square was the site of mass demonstrations in 2008 following disputed presidential elections on Feb. 28, 2008. On Mar. 1, 2008, national police and military forces, called in to disperse the crowds, used “excessive force and violence” which left 10 people dead and many more wounded.
Since then, the square (next to the Opera building) was closed for more than 2 years to build an underground parking lot. Once the area was reopened, children’s rides and souvenir stalls provided to merchants for free were placed in the square after the opposition declared its intention to once again hold rallies in the area.
On Mar. 17, though opposition bloc the Armenian National Congress had not received permission from the city to hold a rally in Liberty Square, following the permitted rally outside the Matenadaran (Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts) opposition demonstrators walked down Baghramyan Ave. and were permitted to enter Liberty Square after negotiations between HAK representatives and police officials.