Tigran Balayan: we're astonished at Bryza's statementMarch 12, 2008 - 15:45 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - "We're astonished that even after his visit to Yerevan, after meeting with and hearing from various official and unofficial sources, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matt Bryza could make such arbitrary statements," said Tigran Balayan, Head of the Armenian Foreign Ministry Press Division. "Assigning such one-sided blame is unfounded and not helpful. The number of wounded law enforcement officers (108) - 43 of them wounded by firearms and hand-grenades - clearly demonstrates that rioters were in possession of firearms and explosives. That coincides with the operative information of law enforcement agencies which had informed the public about all this, days before the events of March 1. In that case, labeling the reaction of the government as "a crackdown on opposition protests", or qualifying it as "harsh and brutal" is incorrect. This was not at all an attack by policemen on civilians," he said. "The violence of March 1 is indeed of great concern to all of us in Armenia, including and foremost, the government, which believes it is responsible for the maintenance of public order and safety. It attempted to do so, exercising restraint, but as law enforcement bodies had earlier cautioned, turned into a clash between officers and demonstrators. With eight people dead (including one policeman) and dozens injured (many from law enforcement), there is no doubt that this was serious violence, and indeed deplorable, as Mr. Bryza says," Mr Balayan noted. Armenia's challenge, now, 10 days after that disastrous day, is to fully explore and understand what happened and find ways to move forward together, according to him. "The international community's focus should be to encourage all involved to take responsibility for the damage to the fabric of our society and to look for inclusive ways to move forward. Ill-informed statements can and do contribute to an escalation of political tension," he resumed. U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza said that "United States is frustrated by the arrests of opponents since his meetings in Armenia." "It is not only frustrating that the government has imposed restrictions on independent media and left in place a state of emergency, but also that it has stepped up arrests of opposition leaders," he said. "It is crucial that the arrest of opposition figures stops." Bryza also called on the government to investigate and prosecute all those from the opposition or the government, who violated election laws and unlawfully used violence. Top stories Achieving stable peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan remains a priority of the OSCE, said Ian Borg. The Cabinet of Ministers decided on Thursday, November 9 to allocated AMD 120 million to arrange the gathering. Michael Roth believes sanctions must be put on the table after Baku‘s ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh. The Yerevan City Council has elected Tigran Avniyan from the ruling Civil Contract as the mayor of the Armenian capital. Partner news | Get Started: An educational platform for young startuppers The Get Started program which operates in two phases is an important platform for young startuppers. Byblos Bank Armenia celebrates Students' Day with scholarship recipients YSU students who received scholarships from Byblos Bank Armenia gathered in a casual setting to meet with the Bank's CEO, Hayk Stepanyan. Azerbaijan extends Rune Vardanyan’s arrest by 5 months A court in Azerbaijan has extended the arrest of former Nagorno-Karabakh leader Ruben Vardanyan by five months. Armenia border residents dissatisfied with delimitation Residents Kirants are dissatisfied with the results of the delimitation of the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan. |