Category: 2022

AW: Police arrest hundreds of protesters demanding Pashinyan’s resignation

Anna Tamamian
May 4, 2022 Lillian Avedian News 0

Police have detained hundreds of protesters during ongoing mass rallies demanding the resignation of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and warning against the concession of Artsakh to Azerbaijan. 

Over 10,000 people attended a demonstration at France Square in Yerevan on May 1, launching a week-long series of protests in the capital city and across the country. Sunday’s rally was the culmination of a series of smaller-scale protests organized by the opposition last week. Armenia’s opposition parliamentary factions—the Armenia Alliance and I Have Honor Alliance—launched the protests on April 25 to demand Pashinyan’s resignation. 

More than 10,000 protesters gather in France Square (Armenia Alliance, May 1)

Following a rally in France Square on Wednesday, opposition deputies, who have been boycotting parliament, marched to the National Assembly to present their demand for Pashinyan’s resignation. 

“He implements the ‘Karabakh is Azerbaijan’ propaganda and supports lowering the bar on the status of Artsakh, which reflects the Turkish-Azerbaijani perspective of recognizing Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan,” Armenia Alliance MP Armen Rustamyan said, reading from the written demand. 

Opposition deputies chant Armenia Without Nikol in the parliamentary chamber (RA National Assembly, May 4)

The opposition deputies started chanting “Armenia without Nikol” and left the chamber, while Pashinyan and the other members of the Civil Contract Party applauded their exit. 

PM Pashinyan and Civil Contract Party deputies applaud as the opposition deputies exit the parliamentary chamber (RA National Assembly, May 4)

Earlier that day, the National Security Service (NSS) said it had received “reliable information” that the protesters intended to seize the National Assembly during Wednesday’s parliamentary sitting. The NSS warned the organizers and participants of the protests to refrain from taking illegal actions, or else the organizers would bear full responsibility for what would follow. 

National Assembly Vice President and chair of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Supreme Council of Armenia Ishkhan Saghatelyan denied that the protesters planned to occupy the parliamentary building or stage any provocations. 

Ishkhan Saghatelyan addresses protesters (Armenia Alliance, May 4)

The opposition movement emerged in response to a controversial speech delivered by Pashinyan at the Armenian National Assembly on April 13. Pashinyan received widespread criticism from political figures and civic activists from Armenia and Artsakh for his call to “lower the bar” regarding the status of Artsakh in negotiations on a peace deal with Azerbaijan. The opposition says that Pashinyan is prepared to cede Artsakh to Azerbaijan.

“Today, the international community again tells us to lower the bar a bit regarding the question of the status of Artsakh, and you will ensure a great international consolidation around Armenia and Artsakh,” Pashinyan said during his address. “Status in the current situation is not a goal, but rather a means to guarantee the security and rights of the Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh.” 

Police officers have been criticized by human rights defenders and civil society groups for the violent crackdown on the opposition protests. Police arrested at least 244 protesters on Monday and 169 protesters on Tuesday. 

Head of the State Protection Service Sargis Hovhannisyan attacked two journalists from news website Mediahub.am covering the protests on Monday. A video circulated online shows Hovhannisyan shouting at the reporter, Nare Gnuni, and hitting her microphone, then kicking the cameraman, Arman Gharajian. 

Police arrest a protester (Armenia Alliance, May 4)

Ombudswoman Kristine Grigoryan released a lengthy statement on Monday condemning the unlawful actions by the police officers. Grigoryan’s office, which has been visiting detainees in jail, recorded that the police have been apprehending citizens without presenting any demands and holding them beyond the legal minimum time limit. The Ombudswoman denounced the “use of disproportionate force” by the police against protesters and specifically called Hovhannisyan’s attack on the Mediahub.am reporters “unacceptable and condemnable.” 

President of the National Assembly Alen Simonyan said he deems the actions of the police in response to the demonstrations “proportionate.” 

Protesters clash with police (Armenia Alliance, May 4)

“I thank them for protecting the rights of other citizens and not allowing the various small activities taking place to disturb the rights of other civilians,” he told reporters on May 3. 

He also said that he does not believe the country is facing a domestic political crisis. 

“Those forces that lost the 2021 elections are now trying to promote themselves with the same actors, same phrases, same aggression, without presenting any concrete propositions to the people of Armenia. Yet it is clear that the people have made their decision and are trying to avoid such steps,” he said. 

Journalist Tatul Hakobyan has also criticized the violent crackdown on the protests. “Today’s violence is just as unacceptable as it was in 2016, 2008, 2004, and so on until 1991,” he wrote on Facebook. 

One day ahead of the mass rally on May 1, the NSS of Armenia released a statement warning of a “real danger of mass riots.” It said it would neutralize “any kind of actions destabilizing Armenia’s internal stability.” 

Saghatelyan announced the start of a “large-scale campaign of disobedience” to topple Pashinyan and his administration during his speech at Sunday’s rally. He called on workers to go on strike and students not to attend classes.

“Our struggle will take place by peaceful means, but we will be decisive to the end. The primary threat to the nation is sitting in the government building,” Saghatelyan said. 

Saghatelyan, who has emerged as a protest leader, appealed to the members of parliament representing the Civil Contract Party to use their “last chance to correct their mistake and stand by the people.” He also appealed to the armed forces not to follow the “instructions and illegal decisions of that crazy man.” 

“Nikol does not have a mandate to lead the country to new concessions,” Saghatelyan said. “We need to subject the capitulator to capitulation.”

  •  Bio
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Lillian Avedian is a staff writer for the Armenian Weekly. Her writing has also been published in the Los Angeles Review of Books, Hetq and the Daily Californian. She is pursuing master’s degrees in Journalism and Near Eastern Studies at New York University. A human rights journalist and feminist poet, Lillian’s first poetry collection Journey to Tatev was released with Girls on Key Press in spring of 2021.


RFE/RL Armenian Report – 05/04/2022

Khondkarian Raffi 
                                        Wednesday, May 4, 2022
Families Of Fallen Soldiers Insist On Pashinian’s Prosecution
        • Susan Badalian
Armenia -- The parents of soldiers killed in the 2020 Karabakh war protest 
outside the Office of the Prosecutor-General, Yerevan, May 4, 2022.
The parents of Armenian soldiers killed in the 2020 war in Nagorno-Karabakh 
again rallied outside prosecutors’ headquarters in Yerevan on Wednesday to 
demand criminal charges against Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian.
Their protests were sparked by Pashinian’s remarks made on April 13 in response 
to continuing opposition criticism of his handling of the devastating war that 
left at least 3,825 Armenian soldiers dead.
“They say now, ‘Could they have averted the war?’” Pashinian told the 
parliament. “They could have averted the war, as a result of which we would have 
had the same situation, but of course without the casualties.”
The parents and other relatives of several dozen fallen soldiers say Pashinian 
thus publicly admitted deliberately sacrificing thousands of lives. They 
submitted a relevant “crime report” to Armenia’s Office of the 
Prosecutor-General on April 18.
The office instructed another law-enforcement agency, the Anti-Corruption 
Committee, to look into the report and decide whether it warrants a formal 
criminal investigation into the prime minister.
According to a spokesman for Prosecutor-General Artur Davtian, the committee 
delayed the decision until obtaining more “factual information and evidence” 
regarding the case.
“It’s a ploy for not addressing the issue anymore,” Ara Zohrabian, a lawyer 
representing the protesting families, said during their rally held outside 
Davtian’s office.
Armenia - A woman visits the graves of an Armenian soldier killed in the 2020 
war in Nagorno-Karabakh and buried in the Yerablur Military Pantheon in Yerevan, 
September 27, 2021.
“Our most important demand -- namely, to charge Pashinian with mass murder and 
arrest him -- has not yet been fulfilled,” said Naira Melikian, whose son Hayk 
was killed during the six-week war stopped by a Russian-brokered ceasefire in 
November 2020.
Tigran Marukhian, the father of an officer who also died in action, said the 
grief-stricken families will continue to demand Pashinian’s prosecution.
“This wound will not heal,” he told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. “But we will 
always cry out and say that all the guilty must be brought to account.”
Virtually all opposition groups hold Pashinian responsible for Armenia’s defeat 
in the war with Azerbaijan. For his part, Pashinian has put the blame on former 
Presidents Robert Kocharian and Serzh Sarkisian, who now lead two of those 
groups.
Kocharian ruled Armenia from 1998-2008, while Sarkisian, his successor, lost 
power more than two years before the outbreak of the hostilities.
Pashinian Rejects Resignation Calls
        • Naira Nalbandian
        • Gayane Saribekian
Armenia - Riot police confront opposition protesters outside the parliament 
building in Yerevan, May 4, 2022.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian rejected opposition demands for his resignation 
and again blamed Armenia’s former leaders for the 2020 war in Nagorno-Karabakh 
on Wednesday amid continuing anti-government protests in Yerevan.
Pashinian said the Armenian opposition is trying in vain to replicate the 
“velvet revolution” that brought him to power in 2018.
“They think that if they repeat everything, do things the same way, mimic, they 
will succeed,” he said during his government’s question-and-answer session in 
the Armenian parliament.
Opposition supporters again blocked streets and marched through various parts of 
Yerevan before converging on its France Square, the epicenter of the daily 
protests, early in the afternoon. Thousands of demonstrators then headed to the 
parliament compound where Pashinian answered questions from lawmakers.
Scores of riot police were deployed around the walled compound to keep the 
protesters from approaching the main entrance to the National Assembly. Heeding 
repeated appeals from opposition leaders, the crowd did not attempt to break 
through the police cordon during an hour-long standoff with the security forces.
Citing “credible information,” Armenia’s National Security Service (NSS) claimed 
earlier in the day that organizers of the protests are planning to seize the 
parliament. Opposition leaders shrugged off the claim.
“They are intimidating citizens with false claims so that citizens do not 
express their civic position,” one of them, Gegham Manukian, told RFE/RL’s 
Armenian Service.
Armenia - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian speaks in the parliament, Yerevan, May 
4, 2022.
Manukian and other deputies representing the opposition Hayastan and Pativ 
alliances went into the parliament building to attend the government’s 
question-and-answer session. In a statement read out on behalf of them, 
Hayastan’s Armen Rustamian reiterated the opposition demands for Pashinian’s 
resignation.
Rustamian charged that the prime minister mishandled peace talks with Azerbaijan 
and “brought war and defeat upon us” in 2020. He also accused Pashinian of 
breaking 2021 election campaign promises, including a pledge to assert the 
Karabakh Armenians’ right to self-determination.
Pashinian is now prepared to help Azerbaijan regain full control over Karabakh, 
Rustamian said, reiterating allegations that are at the heart of the ongoing 
opposition campaign to topple the government.
“Nikol Pashinian is not legitimate, does not have a mandate to lead our country 
to new concessions and must resign,” added the opposition leader.
Pashinian responded by again saying that Karabakh peace talks were botched by 
former President Serzh Sarkisian.
“It was Serzh Sarkisian who spoke about the war from this podium by saying that 
‘we must no longer hope that Azerbaijan will not try to resolve the Karabakh 
problem through war,’” he said.
Armenia - Opposition lawmakers demand Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian's 
resignation during his government's question-and-answer session in the 
parliament, Yerevan, May 4, 2022.
“If you think that you can justify the disasters brought by you upon this 
country by putting the blame on the former authorities, you are mistaken,” 
Rustamian shot back before he and other opposition deputies walked out in 
protest.
Some of those lawmakers chanted “Armenia without Nikol!” as they left the 
chamber. Their colleagues from the ruling Civil Contract party applauded them 
mockingly.
Ishkhan Saghatelian, another opposition leader who led the crowd outside the 
parliament building, said the protests will continue unabated.
“We will keep chasing him until he quits,” Saghatelian told the protesters after 
Pashinian left the heavily guarded building.
Armenia Reports Spike In Citizenship Requests
Armenia - The passport of a citizen of Armenia, September 18, 2014.
The number of foreigners applying for Armenian citizenship has more than tripled 
since the start of the war in Ukraine, according to immigration authorities in 
Yerevan.
Ara Fidanian, a deputy chief of the Armenian police, told lawmakers on Tuesday 
that the authorities received 3,278 citizenship requests from February 24 
through April 20, compared with 941 such applications filed in the same period 
of last year.
The number of applications totaled 8,591 in the whole of 2021, said Fidanian. 
The bulk of them were submitted by ethnic Armenian citizens of other countries. 
Under Armenian law, they are eligible for fast-track dual citizenship.
Other foreigners must live in the South Caucasus country for at least three 
years before they can become its citizens.
Fidanian did not name the countries whose nationals applied for Armenian 
citizenship after the Russian invasion of Ukraine began on February 24.
Armenia has not reported a massive influx of ethnic Armenian refugees from 
Ukraine. The Armenian community in Ukraine had at least 100,000 members before 
the war.
In the last two months, Armenia has attracted instead thousands of Russian 
migrants. Most of them are young professionals who are thought to have left 
Russia for primarily economic reasons.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2022 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

Georgian PM, Armenian Defence Minister discuss defence cooperation

David Nargizian
Agenda, Georgia
May 4 2022

Questions of cooperation between Georgia and Armenia in the field of defence, and relations between the two countries were discussed by Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and Suren Papikyan, the Armenian Minister of  Defence in Tbilisi on Wednesday. 

The two officials noted the “many years” of experience in defence cooperation and said the 2022 Bilateral Cooperation Plan, signed during the ongoing visit of Papikyan’s delegation in Georgia, would serve to strengthen peace in the South Caucasus region, the Government Administration said.

The sides also discussed security topics and the need to promote peace and stability in the region, and reviewed the impact of the ongoing war in Ukraine on the global political architecture.

Georgian PM’s Peaceful Neighbourhood Initiative for the South Caucasus, which involves establishment of a dialogue format between Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan and cooperation in mutually beneficial areas, was also discussed, along with the country’s readiness to facilitate the regional dialogue.

During his Georgian visit, Papikyan also met his counterpart Juansher Burchuladze and signed the 2022 Bilateral Cooperation Plan. The meeting at the Defence Ministry between the two officials focused on cooperation between their countries.

Protesters block streets in Armenian capital to call for PM’s resignation

Parkev Tvankchian
May 4 2022
By Syndicated ContentMay 4, 2022 | 3:36 AM

TBILISI (Reuters) – Protesters calling for the resignation of Armenian President Nikol Pashinyan blocked major roads in the capital Yerevan on Wednesday and called for citizens to commit acts of civil disobedience.

Footage from local television showed protesters blocking Yerevan’s Kievian Bridge over the Hrazdan River, chanting “Armenia without Nikol!”

Traffic on the bridge has since resumed, according to a Reuters witness.

Pashinyan has faced heavy criticism since he agreed in November 2020 to a Russian-brokered ceasefire to end six weeks of war between ethnic Armenian and Azeri forces over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The deal that ended the heaviest fighting in the region since the 1990s secured significant territorial gains for Azerbaijan in and around Nagorno-Karabakh.

Pashinyan said he had been compelled to accept the deal, which prompted a wave of protests, to avoid greater human and territorial losses.

(Reporting by Reuters)

https://wtvbam.com/2022/05/04/protesters-block-streets-in-armenian-capital-to-call-for-pms-resignation/
ALSO AT
https://whbl.com/2022/05/04/protesters-block-streets-in-armenian-capital-to-call-for-pms-resignation/
https://wkzo.com/2022/05/04/protesters-block-streets-in-armenian-capital-to-call-for-pms-resignation/
https://www.todayonline.com/world/protesters-demand-resignation-armenian-pm-opposition-walks-out-1889951
https://www.malaymail.com/news/world/2022/05/04/protesters-block-streets-in-armenian-capital-to-call-for-pms-resignation/2057080
https://www.thestandard.com.hk/breaking-news/section/6/189798/Protesters-block-streets-in-Armenian-capital-to-call-for-PM%27s-resignation%C2%A0
https://whtc.com/2022/05/04/protesters-block-streets-in-armenian-capital-to-call-for-pms-resignation/
https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/protesters-block-streets-in-armenian-capital-to-call-for-pm-s-resignation/47565864
https://wincountry.com/2022/05/04/protesters-block-streets-in-armenian-capital-to-call-for-pms-resignation/
https://nationalpost.com/pmn/news-pmn/protesters-block-streets-in-armenian-capital-to-call-for-pms-resignation

AP: Armenian authorities block roads, warn anti-govt protesters

Emma Jilavian
May 4 2022

Authorities have blocked streets in Armenia’s capital and warned anti-government protesters against trying to seize the country’s parliament building

4 May 2022, 18:31
2 min read

YEREVAN, Armenia — Authorities blocked streets in Armenia’s capital Wednesday and warned anti-government protesters against trying to seize the country’s parliament building as they demonstrated to demand the prime minister’s resignation.

Police used cement mixers and trucks to close off roads and bridges leading to the center of Yerevan as demonstrators chanted, “Armenia without Nikol,” referring to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

The protesters, meanwhile, used cars to block the area around pedestrian underground passageways at major intersections. They marched in at least 10 directions.

“We can speak with the authorities about only one thing – their immediate departure,” Ishkhan Saghatelyan, vice president of the country’s parliament, the National Assembly of Armenia. He also is chair of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation’s Supreme Council.

Police arrested some of the protesters, and security officials warned them against trying to storm the parliament building. Pashinyan was scheduled to speak to parliament on Wednesday.

Anti-government demonstrations have taken place almost daily since April 17. The prime minister became a renewed target of rancor after he spoke in parliament about the need to sign a peace agreement with neighboring Azerbaijan.

The two countries have clashed for decades over the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh, which is part of Azerbaijan but has been under Armenian control since early 1990s. During a six-week war in 2020, Azerbaijan reclaimed control over some of the region before signing a Russia-brokered truce with Armenia.

https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/armenian-authorities-block-roads-warn-anti-govt-protesters-84494375

ALSO AT

https://www.lmtonline.com/news/article/Armenian-authorities-block-roads-warn-anti-govt-17147303.php

AAP: Protesters demand Armenian PM resign

Jagharian Tania
May 4 2022

Protesters have demanded the resignation of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and opposition lawmakers have walked out of parliament as pressure mounts against the embattled politician.

After blocking major roads in the capital Yerevan, demonstrators rallied outside parliament to voice their discontent while Pashinyan was speaking inside.

Protesters brandishing tricolour Armenian flags shouted “Armenia without Nikol!” and “Leave!,” according to video from the scene.

Police arrested some of the protesters and security officials warned them against trying to storm the parliament building.

The opposition walkout came as Pashinyan was delivering a fiery speech.

“You run like you always run,” he shouted at MPs leaving the session, while his supporters clapped.

Pashinyan has faced heavy criticism since Armenia was defeated by Azerbaijan in a six-week war in 2020 and lost significant territory in and around the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Pashinyan said he had been compelled to accept a Russian-brokered peace deal, which prompted a wave of protests, to avoid greater human and territorial losses.

with reporting from AP

Australian Associated Press


https://www.armidaleexpress.com.au/story/7725250/protesters-demand-armenian-pm-resign/?cs=13239


ALSO AT
https://7news.com.au/news/conflict/protesters-demand-armenian-pm-resign-c-6683419
https://www.juneesoutherncross.com.au/story/7725250/protesters-demand-armenian-pm-resign/?cs=5461

Reuters: Protesters demand resignation of Armenian PM, opposition walks out

Baghdasarian Karlen
May 4 2022
Reuters

TBILISI, May 4 (Reuters) – Protesters demanded the resignation of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Wednesday and opposition lawmakers walked out of parliament as pressure mounted against the embattled politician.

After blocking major roads in the capital Yerevan, demonstrators rallied outside parliament to voice their discontent while Pashinyan was speaking inside.

Protesters brandishing tricolour Armenian flags shouted “Armenia without Nikol!” and “Leave!”, according to video from the scene.

The opposition walkout came as Pashinyan was delivering a fiery speech. “You run like you always run,” he shouted at lawmakers leaving the session, while his supporters clapped.

Pashinyan has faced heavy criticism since Armenia was defeated by Azerbaijan in a six-week war in 2020 and lost significant territory in and around the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Pashinyan said he had been compelled to accept a Russian-brokered peace deal, which prompted a wave of protests, to avoid greater human and territorial losses.

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/protesters-block-streets-armenian-capital-call-pms-resignation-2022-05-04/ 
ALSO AT
https://nationalpost.com/pmn/news-pmn/protesters-demand-resignation-of-armenian-pm-opposition-walks-out
https://news.yahoo.com/protesters-block-streets-armenian-capital-073617571.html
https://www.metro.us/protesters-block-streets-in/

Armenia opposition resumes protests urging PM to quit

Edgar Tavakalian
May 4 2022
By

 AFP

Armenia opposition parties on Wednesday resumed street protests in the capital Yerevan in a bid to oust Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan over his handling of a territorial dispute with Azerbaijan.

Thousands of opposition supporters have rallied daily since Sunday, briefly blocking streets in central Yerevan in a campaign to force Pashinyan to resign.

Opposition leaders have accused him of plotting to cede to Azerbaijan all of the long-contested Nagorno-Karabakh region over which the arch-foe countries fought two wars, in 2020 and in the 1990s.

On Wednesday, protesters parked cement mixers on bridges in Yerevan, briefly disrupting traffic in the capital while small groups of opposition supporters attempted to block the city’s main thoroughfares.

Police detained dozens of people, an AFP journalist witnessed. Opposition leaders have said that more than 200 people who were detained on Tuesday were released the same day.

Opposition leader and parliament vice speaker Ishkhan Saghatelyan said “protests will mount and last until Pashinyan steps down.”

He said the opposition is planning to instal an “interim government of technocrats” without party affiliation.

The ongoing protests highlight bitterness over Pashinyan’s leadership since the six-week war in 2020 over Karabakh that claimed more than 6,500 lives before ending with a Russian-brokered ceasefire.

Under the deal, Armenia ceded swathes of territory it had controlled for decades, and Russia deployed some 2,000 peacekeepers to oversee the truce.

The pact was seen in Armenia as a national humiliation and sparked weeks of anti-government protests, leading Pashinyan to call snap parliamentary polls which his party, Civil Contract, won last September.

Opposition parties have accused Pashinyan of planning to give away to Baku parts of Karabakh that are still under Armenian control — after he told lawmakers last month that the “international community calls on Armenia to scale down demands on Karabakh.”

Ethnic Armenian separatists in Nagorno-Karabakh broke away from Azerbaijan when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. The ensuing conflicts claimed around 30,000 lives.

https://www.macaubusiness.com/armenia-opposition-resumes-protests-urging-pm-to-quit/

Russians’ trips to Armenia triple in Q1, data shows

Badalian Vardan
PanARMENIAN
Armenia – May 4 2022
May 4, 2022 – 10:58 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – The Federal Security Service of Russia has admitted the sharp increase in the number of citizens who left the country in January-March 2022, RFE/RL’s Russian Service says.

The number of Russians traveling to Armenia has tripled, while the number of those preferring Georgia has increased by almost five times, according to the data published by the authorities.

In the first quarter of 2022, 134,000 Russians left for Armenia. Most of those who left – 78,000 – mentioned that they were traveling for private purposes, while 41,000 said for tourism. For comparison, in the first three months of 2021, only 44,000 citizens left Russia for Armenia.

Departure to Uzbekistan (53,000 people who left against 15,000 a year earlier), Tajikistan (40,000 and 8,000, respectively), Azerbaijan (56,000 and 20,000) has grown significantly too.

Experts attribute the significant migration of Russians to a number of factors, including the lifting of Covid restrictions, which were still in effect in many countries in 2021. However, one of the key reasons was also the Russian war in Ukraine.
https://www.panarmenian.net/eng/news/300063/Russians_trips_to_Armenia_triple_in_Q1_data_shows