The protest movement that emerged last month in Armenia over the transfer of land to Azerbaijan continues. Several thousand people gathered on Sunday, May 26, on Republic Square in Yerevan to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian. On Friday, in a key step toward normalizing relations between the two rival countries, which have fought each other in several wars, Yerevan returned to Baku four border villages it had controlled since the 1990s.
The mobilization in the Armenian capital is led by the charismatic Archbishop Bagrat Galstanian, a religious leader from the Tavush region, where villages were returned to Azerbaijan. “Our people want to change the bitter reality that has been imposed on us”Mr. Galstanian proclaimed in front of the crowd, adding that the fixing of the unstable border with Azerbaijan “must only be done after the signing of a peace treaty” with Baku.
“We demand the immediate resignation of Nikol [Pachinian] »declared to Agence France-Presse one of the demonstrators, Artour Sargsian, 67, who said he had participated in two wars against Azerbaijan.
Strategic importance
The ceded territory is of strategic importance to landlocked Armenia because it controls sections of a vital route to Georgia. Armenian residents of neighboring towns say the measure cuts them off from the rest of the country and accuse Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian of ceding territory without getting anything in return. Mr. Pashinian assures for his part that this decision aims to guarantee peace with Baku.
In a televised statement Friday evening, the Prime Minister assured that the resolution of border disputes with Azerbaijan “is the only guarantee of the very existence of the Armenian Republic within its internationally recognized and legitimate border”.
Archbishop Bagrat Galstanian seeks to launch impeachment proceedings against Mr Pashinian. He said on Sunday that he would give up his clerical role to run for prime minister, and called for early parliamentary elections.
“My spiritual service is above all possible positions, but I am ready to sacrifice it in the name of change in this country”, he said to the crowd who were cheering him. He then called on the demonstrators to head towards Mr. Pashinian’s residence.