Levon Aronian urges peace and respect in Armenia protests

PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenia's strongest chess player Levon Aronian believes that the demonstrators should continue pursuing their goals with peace and respect.

"The last two weeks have made me very proud of my nation. The protesters have shown perseverance and courage, the police have shown admirable restraint and professionalism, while the government has displayed laudable wisdom and farsightedness. These are all virtues worthy of a vibrant democracy. Sometimes a moment comes when a group, believing in each other, takes a chance and succeeds. This is how our chess team, against all odds, has achieved the successes it has. Moments like these require all participants to be responsible and responsive," the grandmaster said in a Facebook post.

"I join all of my people both in Armenia and diaspora in our unshakable belief that our goals must be pursued with peace and respect. Let's be careful of acts that risk harming everything we have worked for over the many years. Yes, we should expect more, and yes, we can achieve more, but, like mastery and success in chess, our efforts must be persistent and informed. Healthy economic competition, internationally-demanded workforce, strengthening of rule of law and our institutions, improvement of education, and the empowerment of women are the proven factors that push a nation forward. Let’s keep to that.

"Exercising our rights WITH personal responsibility towards the future is also critical. It starts with each of us, individuals: working towards clean streets, green parks, rubbish-free rivers, clean forests. When we all take this personal responsibility towards our surroundings and our country, we then demonstrate our love of land and people.

"We are unbeatable when united."

Opposition leader from Yelk bloc, founder and head of Civil Contract party Nikol Pashinyan leads the campaign against the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA).

Prime minister Serzh Sargsyan was forced to resign on Monday, and Pashinyan is now seeking the appointment as prime minister by the National Assembly of what he calls “the people’s candidate,” the formation of a temporary government and snap parliamentary elections.

Pashinyan and acting prime minister from the ruling party Karen Karapetyan were scheduled to meet on Wednesday, April 25 but the meeting was canceled. Pashinyan urged demonstrators to resume the rally, with the protesters paralyzing traffic on several major avenues and streets in Yerevan and gathering at the Republic Square again.

Later on Wednesday, the ruling Republican Party of Armenia declared it is ready to discuss any issue with all the parties.