YEREVAN. – Armenia’s ruling coalition released a statement in response to the earlier statement by the oppositional Armenian National Congress (ANC).

“We are sorry to read the ANC statement about the last two rounds of the dialogue. We are first of all upset for the trust lost, which was gained as a result of the dialogues. We are sorry not for the fact that the ANC lies but for the fact that authorities believe them no longer.

As in previous meetings, we state again that no one discussed the arrest issue of the ANC activist. Moreover, authorities cannot connect it to this serious political process as it belongs fully to the legal sphere.

Authorities are ready to cooperate on solving issues for our people and state. We are open to dialogue around any constructive offer. We hope that our colleagues can differentiate between individual and universal issues to continue the political process, which is so important for the Armenian people,” the statement reads.

The ANC participation in opposition-authorities dialogue is pending as long as the measure of restraint for ANC activist Tigran Arakelyan has not changed. Arakeyan was arrested on August 9 as a result of the incident with police. During the last two sessions, the ANC claimed for changing the measure of restraint. However, authorities took no steps for it.