Armenians March To Pay Tribute To Slain War Soldiers, Demand For ‘traitor’ PM To Resign

Citizens of Armenia flooded the streets on December 19 to march in honour of the slain soldiers and pay tribute to the war victims of Nagorno-Karabakh military conflict. The rally to pay respect to the deceased was led by the Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in the capital Yerevan. The anti-government protesters, however, opposed PM Pashinyan for his agreement to Russia’s brokered truce, as a result of which, Armenia had to cede the larger part of the disputed territory to the Azerbaijan army. Several in the march criticised the Armenian leader as they pelted eggs and chanted slogans, “Nikol, you traitor!”. The citizens demanded that Pashinyan steps down. 

According to The Associated Press, hundreds of thousands of Armenians gathered around the Yerablur military memorial cemetery located on the outskirts of the capital of Yerevan as they observed the three-day mourning, laying a wreath to pay tribute to the soldiers’ sacrifice. Shortly after the honouring ceremony, a confrontation broke out between the opponents and the security forces. Citizens expressed angst against their leader’s territorial concession to the rival country and demanded that he turns in a resignation.

In midst of the police and protesters scuffle, officers paved way for the Armenian PM and his security guards by dispersing crowd, making arrests, and providing camouflage of umbrellas and gun shields to protect Armenian PM from the egg pelters and angry mob attack. As many as 20,000 supporters later rallied at Yerevan to uphold the memorial church service to honour the fallen. This was followed by at least 14 retired military generals issuing a statement to the PM, demanding his resignation for mishandling of the conflict situation.

Earlier, Armenian Prime Minister agreed to exchange the prisoners of war with Azerbaijan. Pashinyan said he was ready to swap war captives and the corpses of the soldiers and victims killed during the military confrontation in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Azerbaijan had confirmed its intention to conduct an exchange of prisoners with Armenia on the “all for all” principle. As the Azerbaijan armed forces entered the Nagorno-Karabakh region, making relentless advances, culminating in the seizure, thousands torched their homes and fled.

Several houses were set on fire in the village of Charektar that borders the district of Martakert. Civilians expressed fury over the peace agreement, saying, that Russian President Vladimir Putin “abandoned and wronged” them. “Why has Putin abandoned us?” they asked when AP approached them for a statement.