Police and protesters have clashed in the Armenian capital Yerevan as anti-government protesters besieged the residence of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
On Friday evening, police deployed stun grenades and batons to disperse protesters gathered near the PM’s residence, making several arrests. The violence errupted as protesters attempted to march to Parliament but were blocked by police.
Protests demanding Pashinyan’s resignation and supported by the Armenian opposition have been ongoing in Yerevan since early May. The protests began after the opposition accused the government of planning to make concessions regarding the status of Nagorno-Karabakh in peace negotiations with Baku.
Local media reported that at least thirty-five protesters were hospitalised in the clashes. One officer told journalists that they had used force after protesters hit them with stones.
Daniel Ioannisyan, a democracy activist at the Union of Informed Citizens wrote that protesters had acted aggressively at the demonstration near the PM’s residence. ‘Opposition leaders did everything they could to make the clash happen, but the police failed to prevent it’, he wrote.
՛At least 20 policemen suffered head injuries from large stones thrown by citizens՛, Ioannisyan wrote. ‘The heads of those policemen were washed in blood, resources in the area were not sufficient to provide officers with proper first aid’.
Following the clashes, Ishkhan Saghatelyan, a senior member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation and an MP from the opposition Armenia Alliance bloc called for supporters to gather at France square in central Yerevan for a late-night rally.
Armenia has extended the protection status for Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians, without which they would not be able to leave the country.
On Thursday, the Armenian Ministry of Internal Affairs announced that the status of protection granted to Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians was extended until 31 December 2025, with the possibility of further extension.
This status was given to over 100,000 Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians who did not apply for Armenian citizenship following the mass displacement in 2023.
Armenia’s opposition has held a hearing in defence of the inclusion of the Declaration of Independence in Armenia’s constitution, with opposition figures insulting supporters and members of the ruling party.
The opposition Armenia Alliance faction held the hearing on Thursday to discuss the draft statement regarding the inviolable relevance of Armenia’s Declaration of Independence.
The hearing took place against the backdrop of continued statements from Azerbaijan that the inclusion of the d
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova has said Azerbaijan is taking ‘constructive’ actions to facilitate the right to return of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians, as evidence mounts of the demolition of residential and cultural heritage buildings in Nagorno-Karabakh.
‘We have repeatedly commented on and emphasised the constructive steps taken by Baku to provide the population that left their native places with the opportunity to return there’, Zakharova said during a press briefing o
Human rights activist Zaruhi Hovhannisyan has slammed the Deputy Chair of the Armenian Parliament’s Defence Committee, Armen Khachatryan, for attempting to downplay the responsibility of the authorities in the non-combat deaths of soldiers.
‘In our civilian life, we have many suicides, we have many accidents. I don’t know why you don’t talk about it, the reasons for those suicides’, Khachatryan said on Tuesday, in response to a question regarding the recent death of a soldier outside of comba
