Today, those participating in the Popular Movement continued to assemble at the Opera’s Freedom Square. Contrary to the past few days their numbers greatly increased. The reason was that yesterday Levon Ter-Petrosyan had announced plans for a public rally today, to the despair of Serzh Sargsyan, who had gathered up his followers and brought them to Yerevan’s Republic Square from the country’s various regions.

It turned out that soon after the rally begin most of the people left Republic Square and headed up Northern Avenue and entered Freedom Square at the Opera. They were greeted with chants of “Unity” when they arrived there. In reality, Serzh Sargsyan indirectly increased the number of people joining the Popular Movement. Levon Ter-Petrosyan, in the name of the President of Armenia, declared that he was bestowing Serzh Sargsyan the “Victory Cross” for services rendered. Ter-Petrosyan also called on those on hunger strike to end their protest and to join those celebrating the victory by singing and dancing. He called this a “revolution of song and dance”. The hunger strikers heeded his call and ended their action. However Mikayel Hayrapetyan, one of the rally organizers, stated that they wouldn’t forget that neither the Ministry of Health nor the Red Cross offered any medical assistance. Levon Ter-Petrosyan also ‘granted’ Armenian citizenship by decree to Sargis Hatsapanyan, a French citizen, who was one of the hunger strikers and who had requested that Ter-Petrosyan grant him ROA citizenship.

Also addressing the crowd from the podium were Samvel Harutyunyan and Garnik Margaryan who had been arrested by the police earlier in the day but later released.

The tens of thousands of marchers, including senior citizens, took the traditional route down Mashtots Avenue, turning left on Amirian Street, crossing Republic Square, up Nalbandyan and ending back on Tumanyan Street. In the throng of marchers were those people who had been transported to Serzh Sargsyan’s rally but who eventually wound up as protestors in Freedom Square.