Protests Block Streets in Armenia, Call for Prime Minister’s Resignation

Protests demanding the resignation of Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan have disrupted the capital city, Yerevan, and other parts of the country. The protests, ongoing for weeks, escalated on Monday with main streets being blocked and sporadic clashes with police. Authorities reported the detention of 196 individuals in Yerevan.

The demonstrations were initially sparked by the government’s decision to return four border villages to Azerbaijan, following a military campaign in September. Bagrat Galstanyan, a high-ranking cleric in the Armenian Apostolic Church and archbishop of the Tavush diocese, has been leading the movement.

The protests have since grown to encompass a broad array of grievances against Pashinyan’s government. Leaders of the Tavush for the Homeland movement, during a large rally in Yerevan on Sunday, endorsed Galstanyan as a potential successor for the prime ministerial position.

The return of the villages came after Azerbaijan’s military campaign led to the capitulation of ethnic Armenian separatists in the Karabakh region. The hostilities resulted in around 120,000 ethnic Armenians fleeing the area. Historically, ethnic Armenian forces had taken control of Karabakh in 1994, with Azerbaijan reclaiming some territories in 2020 following renewed conflict and the subsequent withdrawal of Russian peacekeeping troops.

Pashinyan has emphasized the necessity of defining the border with Azerbaijan promptly to prevent further conflict.

Key Details:

  • What: Protests demanding resignation of the Prime Minister
  • Where: Yerevan, Armenia, and other regions
  • When: Ongoing for weeks, escalated on Monday
  • Who: Protesters led by Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, targeting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan