‘I Haven’t Seen, What Were They Doing?’: Agazaryan Justifies Police Actions

‘I haven’t seen, what were they doing?’ said MP Hovik Agazaryan from the ruling Civil Contract party during a conversation with journalists at the Yerablur memorial on September 21. This comment came after Agazaryan watched a video of today’s incident at Yerablur, in which police officers were forcibly detaining parents of fallen soldiers.

When a reporter pointed out that the parents had gathered and announced that they would not allow Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to approach the graves of the deceased, Agazaryan replied, ‘That is not the right approach.’

When asked if it was the police’s approach that was correct, Agazaryan responded, ‘If they are to obstruct a state event, what is the police supposed to do? Public order must be maintained. If a state-level event is taking place, its necessary level must be ensured. Today, we are all in a tense situation, and we cannot allow for one or two incidents. Is the police doing something wrong by doing this? No, they are doing right, I have said a hundred times that they are doing right.’

In response to a remark that it is hard to recall such actions during the rejected era of Serzh Sargsyan, when journalists were able to cover visits by high-ranking officials, Hovik Agazaryan stated, ‘Because there are people who say, ‘Is there no one to do October 27 again?’ Do we need an October 27 today? They are ensuring that such things do not happen; are they doing a wrong thing? We are in a wartime situation, and there is no step that is excessive to prevent unpredictable processes. I bow before all the parents of the fallen, but an 18-year-old boy is no longer just a parent’s child, but belongs to society, and he is obliged to do everything to protect his homeland.’