“I want to assure all of you that our law enforcement agencies will do everything to identify the culprits of this dastardly crime. Our physicians have done a lot already and I am certain that Paruyr Hayrikian will make a speedy recovery," Sargsyan said.
"I am both shocked and saddened by this attack against a prominent politician and a presidential candidate. I strongly condemn this violence, which has happened at a crucial period for Armenia in the run-up to the national elections. I trust that all measures will be taken for this incident to be promptly investigated and I hope that this case will not cast a shadow on the process of democratic elections in Armenia,” said Sorokin.
Vardan Devrikyan, Deputy Director of the Literature Institute in Armenia, adds his name to the list of public figures who believes that “foreign powers” are behind yesterday’s assassination attempt of presidential candidate Paryur Hayrikian.
Gyumri Mayor Samvel Balasanyan has condemned yesterday’s attempted assassination of presidential candidate Paruyr Hayrikian and says it will be used by “known foreign powers” against Armenia, in an attempt to besmirch the presidential election process now taking place.
Armenian presidential candidate Paruyr Hayrikian was shot just minutes before midnight yesterday on a street in downtown Yerevan.
Hayrikian stated that even if he were to become president, nothing would change, since power rests in the hands of the parliamentary majority; more specifically, the leader of that party.
Paruyr Hayrikyan said that it wasn’t the army but the army’s commanders that would bear any such responsibility for civilian deaths during a state of emergency.
Hayrikian had originally filed a slander suit against the newspaper and Communist Party members Gegham Galstyan and Norik Petrosyan.