YEREVAN. – The first army was led to Yerevan by the first president of Armenia Levon Ter-Petrosyan, lawyer of the second president Robert Kocharyan told reporters.
Hayk Alumyan recalled that it was during the well-known events of 1996, the assault on parliament after the presidential election, when the tanks appeared on the streets of Yerevan.
“There is a certain difference between the events of 1996 and 2008 and the use of the army. In 1996, the troops were in direct contact with the protesters, meanwhile, in 2008 they were deployed in such a way that there was no direct contact and clash with the protesters,” Alumyan noted.
The lawyer recalled that following the events of that time, the then Interior Minister Vano Siradeghyan said that for the first time the Armenian army entered the capital, and it was after it when the army internal troops were deployed.
“Remember that the Armenian troops were first sent to Yerevan in 1996, when Levon Ter-Petrosyan suppressed rallies in the capital city,” the lawyer said.