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  • Head Of Karabakh Opposition Party: 'Artsakh Authorities Are Competin

    HEAD OF KARABAKH OPPOSITION PARTY: 'ARTSAKH AUTHORITIES ARE COMPETING TO WIN FAVOR OF PRESIDENT SARGSYAN'- VIDEOS

    Vahe Sarukhanyan

    14:47, February 2, 2015

    Hetq speaks to Hayk Khanoumyan, president of the Azgayin Veratznound
    (National Rebirth) political party of Artsakh regarding the January
    31attack on an automobile convoy of political opposition activists
    from Armenia as they entered Artsakh.

    Hayk, were you expecting such a thing to happen or did it come as
    a surprise? How did you find out about the incident that took place
    near Berdzor?

    For days, the authorities had been manipulating Artsakh public opinion,
    trying to make the car convoy and its participants into monsters. And
    they were playing with the most sensitive of all issues for Artsakh
    residents; that of security. (According to reports, the authorities
    had told residents that the participants had called on young men in
    Armenia not to militarily serve in Artsakh - VS)

    They were preaching hate towards those who initiated the car convoy
    and its supporters. I expected violence, but not to this degree. The
    first victims of violence were the Founding Parliament supporters
    who traveled to Berdzor from Stepanakert. I heard about the attack
    when these individuals had just been transferred to hospital.

    Before the convoy, Artsakh government authorities had met with
    representatives of the Founding Parliament organization, urging them to
    call off the convoy. Later, the Artsakh Freedom Fighters Union declared
    the convoy illegal and that they would voice their opposition to the
    event. The convoy participants described the convoy as an informative
    action where CDs would be handed out and that a meeting with Artsakh
    students would be held. Is the public sector and internal situation
    in Artsakh so fragile that such a car convoy could pose some kind of
    danger, as argued by local authorities?

    The Artsakh authorities are afraid of everything - every unsupervised
    word, every Facebook post by a student, or protest.

    The authorities are trying to create a closed-mouth society in
    which they can continue to enrich them and rule through unparalleled
    corruption. The state propaganda machine is even used against the
    smallest undesirable Facebook post, discrediting them as 'the enemy
    behind the mountain'.

    We have to remember that this is the last term of Artsakh President
    Bako Sahakyan. Thus, there's an internal contest being waged to win
    favor with Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan amongst the possible
    presidential contenders for the next election. Even Bako Sahakyan
    is involved in an attempt to remain in office until the end of his
    tenure in 2017.

    Serzh Sargsyan doesn't look favorably on any expression of criticism
    addressed to him emanating from Artsakh. Consequently, he fuels the
    fire of this contest between Artsakh authorities. This policy led to
    the unprecedented embarrassment that took place on January 31.

    The Artsakh Police issued a statement arguing that the convoy had
    elicited widespread negative reactions in the public and that a large
    segment of the populace had decided to prevent the convoy from entering
    Artsakh. Even though the police had seized cameras on the scene,
    video clips clearly show how armed Special Forces and the police,
    along with individuals wearing civilian clothes sporting armbands
    attacked the participants and their cars with truncheons.

    Reports claim that local authorities had urged Berdzor residents to
    come out into the streets but that they had refused. Thus, the police
    assumed the task. In your opinion, had the police done their duty and
    escorted the convoy, would a confrontation have taken place between
    convoy participants and average citizens in Berdzor, Stepanakert,
    or elsewhere?

    Let me note that most Artsakh residents weren't even aware of the
    Founding Parliament or the Pre-Parliament organization. Had the convoy
    been allowed to pass, most local residents would have mistaken it for
    a wedding party. The 'negative reaction' argument was created on the
    orders of the Artsakh authorities themselves.

    On January 31, I met with some freedom fighters that had come to
    Berdzor on orders to oppose the convoy. They cursed the authorities
    for misleading them and getting them involved in such a embarrassing
    situation.

    Today (this interview was conducted on Feb. 1 - VS), residents of
    various Kashatagh villages telephoned me and expressed the same views.

    It must be stressed that a large segment of the populace - freedom
    fighters, representatives of youth organizations, civil servants and
    police - are the direct victims of a huge conspiracy hatched by the
    Artsakh authorities and President Bako Sahakyan in particular.

    Hayk, nevertheless, we should note that only a few prominent
    individuals that were never pro-government and you party publicly
    condemned what took place from the get-go. Is it that other political
    forces and average Artsakh residents are so fearful of speaking out?

    Or is it the case that, on the whole, there is no diversity of opinion,
    either politically or publicly, in Artsakh, especially since there
    are posts in the social media justifying the actions of the attacker?

    Sadly, representatives of the parties seated in the Artsakh parliament
    (Azat Hayrenik, ARF, and Democratic Party of Artsakh) also participated
    in the demonization of the process. But there are also posts in the
    social media, especially by the new generation, that have condemned
    what took place.

    You correctly note that there haven't been many statements by political
    organizations criticizing the attack. But the regional representatives
    of our party, which has a wide following in Artsakh and an initial
    presence n 85 communities, are constantly telephoning me to express
    their indignation.

    Can we assume, based on the statements made by the police and the
    presidential spokesman justifying the actions of law enforcement as
    legal, that those who participated in the violence will go unpunished
    in the eyes of the law?

    Bako Sahakyan ordered the violence. The police are predisposed to
    take a do-nothing approach.

    Yesterday I went to the hospital to see our injured friends. For
    a whole hour, the hospital administration refused to file a police
    report even though it had admitted four individuals who were clearly
    beaten. Finally, one of the injured, Kerob Ghazaryan, telephoned the
    police and reported what had happened to him.

    This entire situation goes to show that there will be no
    accountability.

    http://hetq.am/eng/news/58370/head-of-karabakh-opposition-party-artsakh-authorities-are-competing-to-win-favor-of-president-sargsyan.html

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbF33yx8jpo
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbF33yx8jpo#t=163

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