Protests continue in Armenia — streets are blocked, there are detainees

Author:
Anna Kholodnova
Date:

Today at 8:30 the Armenian opposition started a protest action in Yerevan. Protesters demand the resignation of Prime Minister Pashinyan.

This was reported by the Armenian service of Radio Liberty.

Police are currently detaining citizens who blocked Khorenatsi Street in Yerevan and trying to open the road.

Mashtots Avenue and its intersection with Pushkin Street are blocked, demonstrators set up garbage cans and benches at the Mashtots-Amiryan intersection. The Square of France is closed on all four sides.

According to the opposition vice-speaker of the parliament Ishkhan Sagatelyan, the night passed peacefully, there were no clashes, the weather conditions were unfavorable, it was raining, but the demonstrators spent the night in the square of France.

Opposition street protests began two weeks ago after Armenian Prime Minister Nikola Pashinyan said the international community expected the Armenian side to lower the bar for demands on Nagorno-Karabakhʼs status. Now the Armenian opposition is accusing Pashinyan of intending to give control over the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijan and demanding his resignation.

  • The situation around Nagorno-Karabakh worsened again in autumn 2020.
  • On the night of November 10, 2020, the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikola Pashinyan and the Presidents of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a joint statement to end the war in Nagorno-Karabakh, which lasted a month and a half (since September 27). The parties suffered heavy losses — thousands of soldiers killed and hundreds of civilians wounded in the shelling of cities. In this war, Azerbaijan gained 40% of the territory of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, including the city of Shusha. However, a full settlement of the conflict has not yet been achieved.