SpaceWar.com - Your World At War
Armenia detains demonstrators as protest leader seeks to oust PM
Yerevan, May 14 (AFP) May 14, 2024
Armenia briefly detained dozens of demonstrators in the capital, Yerevan, on Tuesday, when mass protests flared against government plans to concede land to the country's historic foe, Azerbaijan.

Large numbers of police surrounded the crowds of demonstrators, some wrapped in Armenian flags.

Police said they detained 63 people for attempting to block roads. All were released soon afterwards.

At a previous demonstration on Monday, police briefly detained around 150 protesters.

The government has agreed to hand over to neighbouring Azerbaijan territory it has controlled since the 1990s.

Yerevan has started border delimitation efforts, in a bid to secure an elusive peace deal with Baku and avoid a fresh conflict between the two.

But the territorial concessions have sparked weeks of protests by demonstrators who have blocked major roads in an attempt to force Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to change course.

Two opposition lawmakers attended Tuesday's demonstration led by Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, who addressed protesters through a loudspeaker, dressed in black robes.

Galstanyan, a church leader from the Tavush region, where villages are set to be handed over to Azerbaijan, is seeking to launch an impeachment process against Pashinyan.

This initially requires protesters to present an alternative prime ministerial candidate and for 36 lawmakers to vote in favour of the impeachment process.

- Impeachment bid -


The opposition has not yet presented a candidate. Galstanyan, 52, is not eligible because he has joint Armenian and Canadian citizenship.

Parliamentary opposition factions have 35 lawmakers, meaning the protesters must also secure support from an independent MP or someone from Pashinyan's party.

Galstanyan has said an independent MP, Ishkhan Zakaryan, has agreed to vote in favour.

After these hurdles are overcome, an impeachment vote would need to be held within three days and would require 54 votes in favour to be successful.

Armenia and Azerbaijan, two former Soviet republics in the south Caucasus, have been locked in a stand-off over disputed territory, primarily Nagorno-Karabakh, since the break-up of the Soviet Union.

The two countries announced last month they had begun border demarcation work as part of efforts to normalise relations.

Pashinyan is currently in Denmark attending a democracy summit set up by former NATO secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

The former journalist became Armenia's prime minister in 2018 after leading peaceful street protests.

He cracked down on corruption and introduced popular judicial reforms but infuriated many Armenians by agreeing in 2020 to return parts of Nagorno-Karabakh to Baku.

Azerbaijan recaptured Nagorno-Karabakh in a lightning military offensive in September and talks over a broader border agreement have since intensified.


ADVERTISEMENT




Space News from SpaceDaily.com
Bearings Used in Space Technologies: Engineering for the Final Frontier
China prepares for Mars sample return with HKU astrobiologist on mission team
Robots could one day crawl across the moon

24/7 Energy News Coverage
Ultrasound triggers nuclear decay anomaly hinting at flexible space-time
AI system accelerates aircraft concept design using language models
Autonomous sub explores unexplored trench depths to reveal critical mineral clues

Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
PLD Space selected as leading contender for ESA sovereign launch initiative
UK opens competitive bid for GBP 75 million orbital cleanup mission
Boeing wins major contract to deliver new generation strategic comms satellites

24/7 News Coverage
Glacier retreat could drive a surge in volcanic eruptions worldwide
UK thermal satellite firm wins ESA contract to deliver real time climate and security insights
Beyond male dominance in primates new study redefines gender power roles



All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.