OSCE: Both Sides To Blame, Both Sides Armed

RFE/RL reports that a senior official from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) lays the blame for Saturday’s violence on the streets of Yerevan with both the authorities and supporters of the former president, Levon Ter-Petrossian.

“Both sides had arms,” Talvitie said, backing government claims that riot police came under fire from the protesters. “I do not want to say that only one side killed, while the other didn’t. I want to say everybody is responsible for [the violence,]” he told a news conference.

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The OSCE envoy said he the state of emergency, which bans any demonstrations in Yerevan and places severe restrictions on local media, should be lifted “as soon as possible.” He said the Armenian leaders assured him that this could happen before the end of the 20-day period “if the country is calm.” But he said they also warned that emergency rule will be extended beyond March 20 “if need be.”

Meanwhile, as Human Rights Watch demands an independent investigation into the post-election unrest that left at least eight dead, RFE/RL also reports that the Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaktsutyun (ARF-D) has defended the declaration of a state of emergency in the capital.

The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) on Monday defended the imposition of a state of emergency in Yerevan, saying that the post-election protests staged by former President Levon Ter-Petrosian were an attempt at coup d’etat.

“We emphasize that the actions taken by the first president and his supporters were an attempt to come power by violent means and that the Armenian president’s decision to declare a state of emergency was a necessity,” the leadership of the nationalist party represented in the government said in a statement.

The statement said Saturday’s deadly clashes between security forces and thousands of opposition supporters were part of Ter-Petrosian’s “scenario consistently prepared in the last several months.” It demanded that the authorities identify and strictly punish organizers of the riots.

Dashnaktsutyun also faulted Armenia’s leadership for failing to address “objective reasons” for public discontent with the state of affairs in the country which it said was the reason why Ter-Petrosian has attracted a large following since his political comeback in September. It said the authorities should strengthen the rule of law and tackle the public “sense of injustice” in earnest.