Category: 2022

Opposition demonstrators marched from Yerevan’s France Square to the Armenian president’s residence at 26 Baghramyan Avenue on Friday morning to lay out their demands.

Addressing demonstrators, opposition Hayastan faction MP Gegham Manukyan said that Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda was expected to arrive there for talks with the Armenian president.

The Armenian opposition launched a large-scale civil disobedience campaign on 2 May aimed at forcing PM Nikol Pashinyan from office.

“We are going to present out demands, highlighting that Nikol has no mandate to negotiate [with Azerbaijan] on behalf of Armenia and Artsakh, while European countries turn a blind eye to the manifestations of dictatorship in Armenia,” Manukyan said.

Addressing a rally on Thursday evening, opposition leader Ishkhan Saghatelyan said that protesters would not block roads in Yerevan on Friday. Other acts of civil disobedience will take place in the capital to culminate in another rally at 7pm.

Igor Khachaturov, the son of former Armenian army and CSTO chief Yuri Khachaturov, has been arrested on charges of assaulting a police officer at opposition protests in Yerevan, the Investigative Committee of Armenia said in a statement on Friday.

The incident took place at a demonstration on Kievyan Street in the capital on May 17. The man was presumably under the influence of drugs during the attack.

“In order to establish the circumstance, the investigating body decided to carry out a toxicology test. However, Igor Khachaturov refused to provide samples,” the law enforcement agency said.

Khachaturov has been charged under Article 316 of Armenia’s Criminal Code, with a court granting a motion to remand him into custody.

The preliminary investigation continues.

Political analyst Suren Sargsyan has called the visit of Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan to the U.S. in early May a “complete failure”.

“Ararat Mirzoyan failed to raise issues concerning Artsakh’s status and its peoples’ right to self-determination in Washington. Globally, Mirzoyan’s visit to Washington was a fiasco. Now I am going to justify my claims:

1. The 30th anniversary of the establishment of the relations was a serious reason to review and update the agenda of Armenian-U.S. relations, which, however, wasn’t done.

2. To mark the 30th anniversary, a meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken was arranged. Unfortunately, the meeting was not used to discuss pressing issues on the agenda or to push for an agenda stemming from our interests.

3. Instead, a document on civil nuclear cooperation was signed, which has nothing to do with Armenia’s vital interests. It is an American agenda, and the Americans are signing this document with dozens of developing nations.

4. During nearly a dozen meetings, Ararat Mirzoyan didn’t raise issues related to Artsakh’s status, the recognition of Artsakh’s independence and the right of nations to self-determination. As we can see, the American side does in his stead.

5. Speaking about the Congress, don’t you know any other congressmen or senators? There are 100 senators and 435 Congress members in the United States. Don’t you have a desire to make new friends? Why do you always communicate with the same people?

6. A meeting was arranged with Mirzoyan at the Atlantic Council think tank (don’t you know another think tank?) in attendance of only 20 people, including the embassy staff and the official delegation, occupying more than half the room.

7. It was obvious that the Armenian side wanted to “extort” from Washington several important messages for their use in the domestic political arena. In particular, the messages were about the U.S. support for the reforms launched by the Armenian government. All Armenian governments without exception, including Vazgen Manukyan’s government, have heard this message. It should be capitalized on and not turned into a domestic political message,” the analyst wrote on Facebook on Friday.

Opposition protesters demanding Nikol Pashinyan’s resignation blocked the roads leading to the Armenia Marriott Hotel in central Yerevan where a democracy forum was scheduled to be held in attendance of the Armenian premier.

A large number of police forces were deployed outside the hotel building.

“Our main goal is the ouster of Nikol Pashinyan and his government. This is a struggle for the homeland,” RPA member Hayk Derzyan said.

He stresses the need for consolidation in Armenia, saying it is impossible so long as Nikol Pashinyan stays in office.

“We won’t get tired of fighting; no one is getting tired of the idea. We are fighting for our country, for our homeland,” Derzyan said, chanting “Armenia without Turks!”.

A group of Armenian opposition MPs today entered the Armenia Marriott Hotel in central Yerevan, which is hosting the Armenian Democracy Forum organized by the U.S.-based watchdog Freedom House.

Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan, U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Lynne Tracy as well as members of several human rights organizations are attending the forum.

The opposition deputies tried to enter the conference hall, however Head of the State Guard Service Sargis Hovhannisyan refused to let them in, arguing that they were not on the guest list. As a result, a scuffle erupted between the security guards and MPs.

“We want to go in and inform the international community about what is happening in Armenia. I want to tell about my political prisoner friend who has fought in Artsakh,” said Tadevos Avetisyan, an MP from the Hayastan alliance.

“In fact, let’s record that Nikol Pashinyan will remain behind closed doors and police cordons. He cannot move freely in Armenia,” another Hayastan faction MP Anna Grigoryan added.

The MPs who entered the hotel started chanting “Shame!”, “Armenia without Nikol!”, and “Struggle!”.

Incidentally, journalists were also not allowed to enter the hotel.

Reporters covering the ongoing anti-government protests outside the Armenia Marriott Hotel in central Yerevan were denied entry to the hotel hosting the Armenian Democracy Forum on Friday.

Organized by the U.S.-based watchdog Freedom House, the forum addresses, among other things, issues concerning freedom of speech. The hotel building is cordoned off by a large number of police officers.

They denied a request of reporters to be allowed into the hotel to attend the forum.

“We asked the deputy chief of police to convey our request [to organizers], but journalists were not allowed to enter the hotel and take part in the event. It was a very important event for reporters, as issues related to freedom of speech were to be discussed,” said Ani Gevorgyan, a journalist for MediaHub.am.

An Artsakh war veteran and a member of the apposition Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) party, Giorgi Arestakesyan, better known as “grandpa Zhora”, has been charged with allegedly “assaulting” a police officer at opposition protests in Yerevan, his lawyer Mikayel Shkhimyan said on Friday.

In a public post on Facebook, the lawyer stressed the elderly man was the one who actually suffered injuries while being detained by police officers during car rallies on May 16. He also shared a video of the detention.

“The video shows what happened actually. Giorgi Arestakesyan’s injuries were confirmed by a forensic doctor. He filed a crime report, but ended up being charged himself,” Shkhimyan said.