Armenian sides to have dialogue on resolving tensions, parliament speaker says

Associated Press Worldstream
May 11, 2004 Tuesday

YEREVAN, Armenia — Armenia’s opposition parties, which have been
demanding the resignation of President Robert Kocharian in weeks of
large demonstrations, have agreed to start a “political dialogue” with
the government side, Parliament speaker Artur Bagdasarian said Tuesday.

In a statement, Bagdasarian said an agenda for the discussions will be
worked out on Thursday. Further details on the talks, including their
format and whether any issues were off-limits, were not immediately
available.

“As speaker of the Armenian National Assembly, I express the hope
that the representatives in parliament of all political forces will
do everything possible to establish a new political situation in the
country and by the path of political dialogue reach a resolution of
the current difficult questions,” Bagdasarian said.

Weeks of demonstrations have raised political tensions in Armenia.

Kocharian won a second term in presidential elections a year ago that
sparked mass protests. Opposition groups alleged widespread violations
in both rounds of the election.