YEREVAN. – March 1 [tragedy] will not end so long as we are unable to form a trustworthy government, former FM of Nagorno Karabakh Republic Arman Melikyan said during a press conference today.    

“The March 1 page was turned for the international community already in 2008. The international organizations removed the responsibility from their shoulders already at that time. They seem to have said: whatever will be, will be. It was our obligation to alleviate, as much as possible, the situation that came about after those events, and we did alleviate. In other words, throughout this time the international organizations did everything so that the situation in Armenia would not become intense. Perhaps that was the right thing to do. In any case, the March 1 page is turned for them, but not for Armenia,” Melikyan noted.       

Following the 2008 presidential elections in Armenia, the opposition held nonstop rallies and protested against election fraud. And on March 1, the authorities used force against the demonstrators and 10 people were killed as a result. Hundreds of opposition members were arrested and a 20-day state of emergency was declared in the country.