Barbed Wire and Water Cannon Were Not Brought by MPs: Armen Khachatryan

Barbed wire and the water cannon were not brought by MPs; it is the Ministry of Internal Affairs that provided these, which is responsible for maintaining public order and security. This was stated by MP Armen Khachatryan from the Civil Contract faction during a conversation with reporters in the National Assembly.

"The Ministry of Internal Affairs has several divisions that analyze the operational situation in order to apply measures for maintaining public order, the number of forces, and the direction of their use, after which they take those measures. It is not the government; the Ministry of Internal Affairs has always been the institution responsible for maintaining public order and security, or the former police," he said.

In response to the question of whether there would have been such a large number of police forces near the National Assembly building if Nikol Pashinyan had not been there, the MP replied, "I believe so, but I cannot say on what operational analysis they were based. This is the professional activity carried out by our law enforcement officers. The Prime Minister does not dictate which measures to be taken; that responsibility lies with the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and therefore, they undertake appropriate measures based on their assessment of the situation."

Responding to the observation that many members of the Civil Contract party talk about potential provocations by the protesters, he said, "Then there are such data or reasonable suspicions that provocations may occur, because gathering several hundred or several thousand people in one place is already a risky situation regarding maintaining public order and potential criminal activities. The responsibility of law enforcement is to ensure that the march goes peacefully, that the rights of the participants in the march are protected, as well as those of our citizens. The Ministry of Internal Affairs is the first to be interested in everything going within the framework of the law, and if it does not, the Ministry of Internal Affairs bears that responsibility. Therefore, when you talk about provocateurs, it is not in the interest of any entity for provocations to occur there."