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Anti-Putin Protesters in Yerevan: ‘We will not bow to Kremlin pressure’
The following press release has been issued by the Sovereign Armenia Civic Initiative
(Yerevan, Armenia) Thousands of citizens are expected to protest the official state visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Armenia, which will be taking place on December 2nd, 2013. Armenians are protesting their government’s September 3rd decision to join the Russian-led Customs Union and pull back from the EU Association Agreement, which was announced in light of intense Russian pressure and economic blackmail.
If implemented, the Russian-lead Customs Union, as the latest attempt by Putin to reestablish formal control of former soviet states, would hand over significant portions of Armenian sovereignty to a primarily Russian controlled and unaccountable commission.
As such, membership in this union is unconstitutional and illegal. Armenia’s decision to join the Customs Union was a direct result of Russian pressure unbefitting 21st century diplomacy, and more inline with archaic imperial ambitions. Moreover President Serzh Sargsyan, having come to power through fraudulent elections, lacks the legitimacy to make such a decision or to speak on behalf of the Armenian people or in the name of Armenian national interest.
Putin’s visit to Yerevan comes at a particularly intense time for the region, and especially for the Eastern Partnership countries, in the aftermath of the Vilnius summit where Georgia and Moldova successfully initialed the Association Agreement. After Sargsyan’s September 3rd announcement to join the Customs Union, Putin set his sights on Ukraine, and on the eve of the Vilnius summit, the Ukrainian government followed Armenia in stepping away from its EU ambitions due to Russian pressure, resulting in massive protests throughout Ukraine. As a sign of solidarity and taking inspiration from the Ukrainian people, Armenians will be carrying Ukrainian flags and expressing their support for their compatriots in Ukraine.
Putin’s choice of visiting on December 2nd, which will include visits to Gyumri and Yerevan, is filled with symbolism meant to remind the Armenian people of its Soviet past. December 2nd 1920 is the date where the Republic of Armenia was handed over to the Bolsheviks and Sovietized. The protests against Putin will send the message that the Armenian people are determined to live in a free and independent Armenia governed by the rule of law, and have no desire to fall under the yoke of the criminal authorities of the Kremlin.
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