April 13, 2004 - 21:16 AMT
ARMENIAN PRESIDENT ASSESSES OPPOSITION LATEST ACTIONS AS MANIFESTATIONS OF POLITICAL EXTREMISM
The behavior of the aggressively predisposed political minority, observed lately, specifically the calls to overthrow of authority and to violence, unsanctioned meetings and processions, are manifestations of political extremism. This is the assessment Armenian President Robert Kocharian gave to the latest events in Yerevan, declared President's Press Secretary Ashot Kocharian. In the Press Secretary's words, the state leader considers it dangerous for a country adhering to democratic values and holding fundamental economic reforms, as it hits at the stability in the country and the authority it has reached at the international arena. In the situation created, the law-enforcement bodies had to secure public order within the framework of the law, the Presidential Spokesman said. The police intervention was made under the conditions, when the normal work of the National Assembly and the Armenian President was interrupted due to opposition activities, which threatened the constitutional order in the country, Ashot Kocharian noted. The demonstrators did not obey the legal demands of the police and showed insubordination. All state structures are functioning within their constitutional functions, fulfilling their duty of securing normal life of the country and the people. The authorities will use all legal means to prevent new manifestations of political extremism, said the Press Secretary of the Armenian President.