Political analysts link the future of protests in Yerevan with opposition's behaviour

After the dispersal by the police of the protest action in Yerevan, the protest movement may be headed by the parties of the non-parliamentary opposition, said the Armenian political analysts, interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot".

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that today, after the participants of the sit-in strike in Yerevan refused to leave Bagramyan Avenue, policemen dispersed them.

The dispersal of protesters in Bagramyan Avenue may lead to appearance of a new political force in Armenia, said Ruben Megrabyan, a political scientist and an employee of the Centre for Political and International Studies. He did not rule out that the protest movement may be headed by non-parliamentary political parties.

Sergey Minasyan, a political scientist and a deputy director of the Caucasus Institute, does not agree that the protesters were dispersed: "It was not dispersal, because policemen did not use all their methods. They have just unblocked Bagramyan Avenue," Sergey Minasyan told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

He found it difficult to forecast the development of the situation after the dispersal. According to his version, to resolve the situation, it is necessary to involve "real oppositional parties," and form "some political field for solving the problem."

Today, the policemen's actions were illegitimate; and the time to disperse the action was chosen on purpose, said Stepan Safaryan, a political scientist and the head of the Institute for International Security Issues.

"At that time, around midday, the least amount of protesters is usually observed in Bagramyan Avenue, Stepan Safaryan told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

According to his story, the protesters claim that the police acted rather toughly during the dispersal. "I visited the detainees at the police station 'Ketron'; and they all claimed that force was used against them; some of them were injured," said Safaryan.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.