A senior governing party member has countered the assertions that authorities in Armenia are worried over the opposition rally planned for August 1, noting that “the rally season in Armenia is over.”

At the same time, Eduard Sharmazanov, a senior lawmaker and spokesman for the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), said any clash or provocation would run against the public interest.

“Today, it is necessary to wage a political struggle by means of civilized, normal political debates. But of course, every political force should decide for itself what tactics it wants to adopt,” Sharmazanov told reporters on Monday.

“The first president’s team wants to keep the atmosphere tense in order to keep its electorate,” he added.

Regarding the opposition intentions “to take former President Robert Kocharyan to the Hague for his crimes against the nation”, Sharmazanov said: “First, it is inappropriate to push for any president of Armenia to be handed over to the international court in the Hague. Time will show who has done what. I repeat that the Republicans supported Robert Kocharyan in the 1998 and 2003 presidential elections and his activities marked a period of achievements. The Armenias of Levon Ter-Petrosyan and Robert Kocharyan are incomparable.”

The RPA’s representative also said that as a party standing on national-conservative positions, the Republicans would not allow people to be persecuted because of their political views in Armenia.

According to Sharmazanov, however, only trials will show whether there are political prisoners in the country or not.

“I think that the period of political persecutions in Armenia is left in the past,” he said.

In terms of the planned opposition rally, the Republican representative sees no danger in it and in his evaluation, the police perform their duties well neutralizing any possible dangers.

The Republican spokesman also commented on the statement by the junior coalition partner, Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF), that in the event of Turkish President Abdullah Gul’s visit to Yerevan the party would stage an action of protest. “After all, as a party with a 118-year history the ARF decides itself what to do – I respect any civilized stance of any political party,” he said.

Sharmazanov reminded that the Republican Party has always been for establishing diplomatic relations with Turkey without preconditions, also under the leadership of late Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan.

“The Republican Party and the Armenian authorities are interested in Turkey’s joining the European Union, because in that case we will have a more predictable neighbor that will abide by democratic values,” Sharmazanov said, adding that the fact of the 1915 Genocide of Armenians was not and cannot be a subject of discussion, especially for the president of Armenia.