Any subcultural activities must be within law. Any person is protected by law and is not supposed to enjoy any privileges, Artak Davtyan, Chairman of the Committee on Education, Science, Culture, Youth Affairs and Sports, RA Parliament, told NEWS.am. He said he knows about the incident when emo kids were brought to one of the police departments in Yerevan. If they violated the public order they were to be detained.

As regards the attitude to dissenters, he said that Armenian society is rather tolerant. “We should also consider the fact that young people of this age are the most romantic part of our society. They are trying to express themselves by following various subcultures,” he said.

Davtyan disagrees with the opinion that most young people seek to join political parties. Young people in Armenia have various interests, he said.

“Naturally, young people seeing their future in politics have to join political parties and cooperate with them. Some young people are devotees of cultures, including Armenian culture and subcultures. However, most young people cannot be claimed to be devotees of subcultures,” Davtyan said. “Most of the attendees at Flora Martirosyan’s recent concert were young people who like Armenian culture,” he said.