Robert Kocharyan does not share the view that a palace coup took  place in Armenia in 1998

ArmInfo.Armenia's second President  Robert Kocharyan does not share the view that a palace  coup took place in Armenia in 1998. He stated this on February 17 at a press conference, answering a question from journalists.

According to the former president, that year, the first President of  the Republic of Armenia, Levon Ter- Petrosyan, could easily dismiss  the then Prime Minister Robert Kocharyan  with his decree. "He could  easily do so based on the Constitution in effect at that time.  Moreover, the President's power  at that time was practically  unlimited. Why didn't he take this step," the second President of the  Republic of Armenia asked. In response to a question about his lack  of a primary mandate at that time, Kocharyan emphasized that he had  the mandate of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh, and that Levon  Ter-Petrosyan himself had asked him to lead the government of the  Republic of Armenia.

 "At that time, there was a very clear agreement between us on how we  would work. I then directly told the first president that I had not  had a boss for a long time. My relations with Levon were very good at  that time, and I told him that I would not perceive him as a boss.  Our relations had to be on a practical plane," Kocharyan said, adding  that he did not know whether the then Minister of Defense of the  Republic of Armenia Vazgen Sargsyan (he died during the terrorist  attack in the National Assembly on October 27, 1999 - ed.) would have  resigned.