Yerevan hostage standoff: French envoy hopes for peaceful solution

PanARMENIAN.Net - French ambassador to Armenia Jean-Francois Charpentier on Thursday, July 21 expressed hope that the police standoff in Armenia's capital will soon be resolved, RFE/RL Armenian Service reports.

"I don't have the habit of commenting on the events related to the internal situation in the country," he said.

"The embassy, however, has been following the recent developments in Yerevan. I can only hope for a speedy and peaceful solution."

An armed group seized a police HQ and took everyone inside hostage. They are members of the Sasna Tsrer movement. One police officer was killed, and three more were wounded in a shootout that broke as the members of the group hit the gates of the police department with a Ural track. Several captives have been set free so far. The hostages include Armenia's deputy police chief General Major Vardan Eghiazaryan and Yerevan deputy police chief Colonel Valeri Osipyan. The group demand the release of Jirair Sefilian, the founder of the Founding Parliament who was arrested on June 20, as he and a group of people had planned to seize premises and communication facilities, including the Yerevan TV tower.