A public park in central Yerevan remained cordoned off by police on Tuesday morning after a group of environmental protesters interfered with the construction of a pavilion there as part of their weeklong campaign against what they view as illegal area development.

Scores of activists broke a police cordon in a nonviolent action on Monday afternoon to enter the construction site in Yerevan’s Mashtots Park to make the builders stop their work. The action followed a march to the Yerevan municipality and an unsuccessful attempt to negotiate with Yerevan’s mayor regarding the fate of the park.

Overnight, however, construction resumed, with the kiosks supplied with window glass.

Late last week the Yerevan municipality presented documents proving that the construction of kiosks in the park off the city’s main thoroughfare, Mashtots Boulevard, was legal. It said that the kiosks were being erected in the park temporarily and would not harm the park’s green.

But activists representing two civic initiatives, “We Are the Owners of the City” and “Our City”, reacted angrily to what they view as violations of the law. They demand that construction be stopped at least while the matter is being discussed.

Environmentalists insists that the construction permits issued by the city authorities violate some provisions of the Land Code, a number of laws relating to urban development, environmental impact assessment, etc..

Since February 11, dozens of activists held daily protests in the park, obstructing the construction with their mere physical presence. But police put up cordons last weekend to block their entry to the construction site.

This caused some 80 protesters to stage a march to the Mayor’s Office on Monday demanding that the mayor cancel what they deem as illegal construction permits.

“First of all, the law has been broken, and second of all, no public hearings have been held on the matter. The municipality made a hasty decision with gross violations, and this is how the construction is being carried out now,” said Vahram Soghomonyan, a member of the “We Are the Owners of the City” pressure group.

A number of scholars and artists were visiting the protest site in recent days. Among them are actors Yervand Manaryan, Ashot Adamyan, Hayk Marutyan, Hovhannes Azoyan, Varsham Gevorgyan, Arsen Grigoryan, Public TV news present Nver Mnatsakanyan, singers Artur Ispiryan, Ruben Hakhverdyan, and others.

“If they do not plant trees, at least they shouldn’t destroy any,” said popular comedian Hovhannes Azoyan, more known as Hovo. “I urge those who keep singing praise to Yerevan on TV screens to come down and speak against the destruction of this park.”

Actor Varsham Gevorgyan believes eventually the law will prevail and the kiosks will not stay in the park. “One should not underestimate the force of the law, which has been broken,” he said.

Staying in front of the City Hall for an hour and a half, the protesters still failed to meet Mayor Taron Margaryan. Only his aide had come out to negotiate with the demonstrators.

Meanwhile, the continuing environmental standoff in Yerevan has also drawn reactions from politicians. Those in the opposition camp have mostly hailed the civil activism shown by the youth. Opposition Heritage party members have regularly been on-site to support the protesters and mediate in their negotiations with police. Some representatives of the main opposition Armenian National Congress have also backed the environmental protest. And Dashnaktsutyun leader Vahan Hovhannisyan addressed a letter to Mayor Margaryan suggesting that public hearings on the matter be held.

Still, some pro-establishment public figures have condemned the politicization of the matter, even accusing the green protesters of trying to justify the grants they receive from international organizations.

Ruling Republican Party member Menua Harutyunyan claimed the whole process was aimed against Mayor Margaryan, while the environment activists were staging shows as a way of using up the grants they had received.

Meanwhile, police have been warning that protesters break the law by obstructing construction regardless of whether they have a fair cause or not. The city authorities have not yet made any official statement regarding the claims of the protesters and their demands for holding public hearings on the Mashtots park construction.