Nikol Pashinyan says he will meet with Serzh Sargsyan on April 22 to negotiate “matters dealing with Sargyan’s resignation and the transfer of power.”
Taking the podium this evening at a mass anti-government rally in Yerevan’s Republic Square, Yelk Alliance MP Nikol Pashinyan reiterated the demand that any negotiations with the ruling regime are conditioned on the immediate resignation of Serzh Sargsyan as prime minister.
Parents of 23-year-old Tigran Mazmanyan, a protest activist arrested on April 17, are former freedom fighters. His mother, Arpineh Harutyunyan, and father, Mher Mazmanyan, participated in the Artsakh War.
Live Feed - Yerevan Protest Rally
Hundreds of Etchmiadzin residents are marching along Isakov Avenue to join the anti-government protests in Yerevan
Reporters were held back by Sarkissian’s security guards.
ARF political party representatives have met with Armenian Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan, Armenian President Armen Sarkissian and Yelk Alliance Faction MP Edmon Marukyan to discuss the formation of a panel tasked with negotiating with leaders of the anti-government protests now taking place in the country.
Artsakh President Bako Sahakyan today released the following statement regarding the anti-government protests in Armenia.
The Artsakh Ministry of Defense reports that it has spotted movements of Azerbaijani military personnel and equipment along the Line of Contact, especially in the east and southeast.
Yerevan police today detained and later arrested Armen Grigoryan, a political analyst and civic activist, on charges that he violated various administrative codes related to the organization of public rallies and marches.
Anti-government protesters shut down traffic on the Noyemberyan-Bagratashen roadway for one hour today before Tavoush Provincial Governor Hovik Abovyan arrived on the scene, demanding that the protesters disperse.
Amateur video cameras today caught Republican Party of Armenia MP Samvel Aleksanyan kicking an anti-government protester lying on a street in a southeastern neighborhood of Yerevan.
Amidst a week of anti-government protests in Yerevan and elsewhere in Armenia, the website of embattled Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan today issued a statement that the Presidents of the European Council and the European Commission have formally congratulated Sargsyan on his April 17 election.
“This is not a political statement. Rather, I appeal to you as a parent, a friend, as an Armenian,” Sarkissian’s statement reads.
Today, around 350 Armenians living in different parts of Germany, demonstrated in front of the Armenian Embassy in Germany, expressing their solidarity with anti-government protests in Armenia.
The police have also called on reporters and members of the press not to hinder law enforcement officers from carrying out their legal duties and to maintain a reasonable distance from rally sites and marches.
Buses full of police and armored vehicles have been dispatched around the main Government Building in Yerevan. Today is the ninth day of street protests and rallies calling for the resignation of Serzh Sargsyan as prime minister and an end to Republican Party of Armenia rule. Yelk Alliance MP Nikol Pashinyan, who’s spearheaded the protests, has declared a ‘velvet revolution’ in Armenia.
Lines of police can now be seen standing behind rows of razor wire.
Police have stopped a convoy of cars ferrying people from the town of Ararat on their way to Yerevan to participate in the anti-Serzh Sargsyan protests.
Hundreds are marching in Etchmiadzin in opposition to Armenia’s current government, and, in particular, Armenian Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan.
Yerevan police have demanded that Yelk Alliance MP Nikol Pashinyan halt a protest rally now underway in the Nork #7 district of the Armenian capital.
The ministry reports that Azerbaijani forces also fired three anti-tank mortar rounds along the northern Line of Contact.
LIVE: Yerevan Protest March
Here’s the unedited text of Sargsyan’s statement:
"The atmosphere in the country is tense. 24-hour monitoring of social networks and other publications shows evident rise in hate speech and violence, including calls for armed resolution of issues."
After the rally, thousands marched through downtown Yerevan, calling for Sargsyan’s immediate abdication and an end to Republican Party of Armenia rule.
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