YEREVAN–Representatives of several youth organizations in Armenia expressed their indignation with US Assistant Secretary of State Elizabeth Jones’s recent statement referring to Mountainous Karabagh’s leaders as "criminal secessionists" and calling for their removal from power.
Organized by the "Baze" youth group–demonstrators gathered in front of the US embassy in Armenia on Wednesday. Participants included representatives of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation–Republican–and Orinats Yerkir youth groups–as well as non-governmental organizations.
The demonstration closed down Bagramyan Avenue–while police protected them by forming a chain and controlling the traffic. Carrying posters that read "Shame on Elizabeth Jones" and "No to double standards," the youth expressed their outrage at Jones’s remarks on January 13 during a digital video-conference with journalists in US Embassies in Moscow–Rome–and Bratislava.
Expressing the Armenian American community’s shock and outrage at Assistant Secretary Jones’s remarks–the ANCA–on Tuesday–also condemned her statemen’s "as counter to the long-standing US policy of helping the parties reach a negotiated settlement." The ANCA also called on the Administration to begin repairing this damage by immediately and clearly renouncing the unfair and inaccurate remarks.
