Armenian Prime Minister Faces Mass Protests Over Peace Deal with Azerbaijan
Thousands of protesters gathered in Armenia's capital, demanding Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's resignation and opposing his efforts to reach a peace agreement with Azerbaijan.
As Politico.eu reported, a massive crowd converged on Thursday, May 9, in Armenia's capital city. Opposition leaders call for Pashinyan's ouster, criticizing his peace plans with Azerbaijan, a longstanding adversary.
"As he has not reacted, he has shown he despises and rejects those who elected him," Galstanian told the assembled crowd. "We will force him to do it," he declared.
Galstanian urged the Armenian parliament to start the process of removing Pashinyan and warned of "peaceful civil disobedience" actions if they failed to act. The protests began with the singing of the national anthem and the recitation of the Lord's Prayer.
As the situation escalated, police established a barricade between the demonstrators and the government buildings housing Pashinyan's office and presumably around the parliament.
The National Security Service stated, "Any illegal behavior that threatens the constitutional order will be neutralized using all the tools defined by the law."
Demand for the Prime Minister's Resignation Grows in Armenia
The protests have been partly fueled by an announcement from the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs in April that Armenia had agreed to voluntarily return four border villages it has occupied for over 30 years since the First Karabakh War.
