TBILISI (Reuters) – Thousands of protesters blocked government buildings in Armenia’s capital Yerevan on Friday in the latest in a series of rallies calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
Armenia has been the scene of demonstrations since the beginning of May at the initiative of the opposition, which accuses Nikol Pashinian of wanting to sell off Nagorno-Karabakh, a self-proclaimed independent province of the South Caucasus that Yerevan and Azerbaijan have been fighting over for thirty years. .
A video posted on YouTube shows protesters, led by opposition figures, waving Armenian flags and chanting anti-government slogans, while police officers guard the buildings.
“With this we show that Nikol (Pachinyan) has no power in the country,” said Ichkhan Saghatelian, deputy speaker of Armenia’s National Assembly, according to TASS news agency.
Nikol Pashinian is being heavily criticized for agreeing to a Russian-brokered ceasefire following a 2020 six-week war between Armenia and Azerbaijan that turned to Baku’s advantage.
Last April, he angered the opposition by saying the international community was urging Armenia to “lower its demands” on the status of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Azerbaijan said last month it was ready to negotiate a peace treaty with Armenia, but that Yerevan must relinquish any claim to its territory.
Nikol Pashinian, who says he agreed to the 2020 ceasefire to avoid further casualties, insisted he would not sign any peace deal with Azerbaijan without consulting the Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians.
(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Mark Trevelyan and Angus MacSwan; French version Elena Vardon, Editing by Sophie Louet)
click here for restrictions
©2022 Reuters
