By Anna Saghabalian
The dramatic events in Yerevan that followed last month’s presidential election were the result of an “international conspiracy against Armenia,” a parliament deputy from the governing Republican Party (HHK) said on Thursday. “Therefore, I don’t consider this to be a purely political crisis,” Hamlet Harutiunian said, commenting on the bloody post-election unrest. “Fortunately, that conspiracy has failed.”
“As a result of that conspiracy, there was political tension, a split within a segment of the public,” he told reporters. “I believe that as a result of determined actions by the authorities and political parties, we managed to emerge from that conspiracy with very few losses.”
Clearly pointing the finger at the West, Harutiunian claimed that the alleged plot to topple Armenia’s leadership and bring former President Levon Ter-Petrosian back to power was hatched by “famous foreign funds that specialize in fomenting coups d’etat.” He did not elaborate.
Nor did Harutiunian specify if his take on the post-election developments in Armenia is shared by senior government officials and other HHK. While accusing Ter-Petrosian of trying to use the election for illegally seizing power, the Armenian authorities have stopped short of alleging any foreign involvement in the country’s most serious political crisis in nearly a decade.