Armenian opposition leader urges people to join ‘struggle for our homeland’

Panorama
Armenia – May 3 2022

Armenian opposition members and supporters on Tuesday briefly blocked Abovyan Street in central Yerevan as part of a large-scale civil disobedience campaign to oust Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and his cabinet.

The country’s opposition groups launched the campaign on Monday after rallying thousands of supporters in Yerevan’s France Square and setting up a protest camp there on Sunday.

"Join the struggle for our homeland!" Artur Vanetsyan, leader of the opposition Homeland Party, said during the protest on the street.

Ishkhan Saghatelyan, a deputy parliament speaker and chair of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Supreme Council of Armenia, said that in addition to the Yerevan streets, a number of regional roads were also blocked.

"All our compatriots should take to the streets to oust them [the authorities]," he said.

The demonstrators sat in the middle of the road, blocking it for a few minutes. Then, they continued the march along Abovyan Street, chanting " Unification, Struggle, Victory" and "Nikol the traitor”.