Robert Kocharyan Sought to Seize Power From Ter-Petrosyan From the Moment He Crossed the Lachin Corridor, Andranik Kocharyan Says

YEREVAN — Andranik Kocharyan, a member of Armenia’s National Assembly representing the ruling Civil Contract faction, responded to accusations made a day earlier by Hayastan faction lawmaker Levon Kocharyan against Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan regarding the events of March 1, 2008.

Kocharyan said he found the accusations particularly strange because Levon Kocharyan had been a young man at the time of the March 1 events, rather than a seven-year-old child.

“He should have known what was happening in his family, on the streets and in connection with the March 1 events in general,” Andranik Kocharyan said. “Even if he was not informed at the time, a film that is exceptional in its genre has since been produced on the basis of the fact-finding group’s report and video recordings. It is called ‘Lost Spring.’”

According to Kocharyan, the violent actions carried out at 6:00 a.m. were characterized as investigative measures, despite the fact that, under the law, investigative actions were supposed to take place after 7:00 a.m.

He said it was later established that the events had been filmed and that the timing of the recordings had been verified. Those, he argued, were among the first violations. He alleged that extensive manipulation subsequently took place in an effort to present the events differently.

“The European Court of Human Rights ruling now contains findings from five reports whose conclusions are conclusive,” Kocharyan said. “They cover issues ranging from the circumstances involving Internal Troops officer Hamlet Tadevosyan to the creation of illegal armed groups and Order No. 0038.”

The lawmaker then explained why, in his view, those actions were connected not only with Robert Kocharyan’s administration but also with Kocharyan personally.

According to him, the fact-finding group obtained the top-secret Order No. 0038. He said the document showed that, following a meeting convened by Robert Kocharyan, the armed forces were assigned specific tasks related to the March 1 events.

Providing historical context, Andranik Kocharyan recalled that former President Levon Ter-Petrosyan had invited Robert Kocharyan to Armenia and appointed him prime minister with the expectation that he would help resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

“I believe Ter-Petrosyan made a mistake,” Kocharyan said. “From the moment Robert Kocharyan crossed the Lachin corridor, he was thinking about how to seize power from Ter-Petrosyan. That was obvious.”

He also referred to a series of political killings in Armenia.

“Killings were being framed in strange ways,” Kocharyan said, adding that the October 27 attack and the period that followed were accompanied by the redistribution of property and the privatization of kindergartens.

According to the lawmaker, this occurred despite the fact that Ter-Petrosyan had invited Kocharyan to Armenia to resolve the issue of peace.

“The peace issue was not resolved because peace was not what was needed—power was needed,” Kocharyan alleged. “The issue of power was resolved through October 27.”

Kocharyan also said he had become convinced that the de facto leader of the Hayastan faction was not Anna Grigoryan but Levon Kocharyan, because Levon Kocharyan responds to accusations concerning the years of his father’s administration.