By Paul Vartan Sookiasian
Protesters from the “Tavush for the Motherland” movement gathered in Yerevan’s central Republic Square for a second evening after a day of marches and student boycotts. The demonstrators are demanding an immediate halt to ongoing work in Armenia’s bordering region of Tavush to legally define part of Armenia’s border with Azerbaijan. The deal is expected to result in Armenia ceding control of four villages to Azerbaijan. At yesterday’s rally, the movement’s leader Archbishop of Tavush Bagrat Galstanyan also demanded the immediate resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
More than 30,000 people attended yesterday’s rally, per the NGO the Union of Informed Citizens, making it perhaps the largest in Yerevan since the 2020 war.
At this evening’s rally, Galstanyan addressed accusations by his critics in the ruling party tying him to former presidents Robert Kocharyan and Serzh Sargsyan.
“They constantly say that I am connected with this or that person, they constantly try to connect me with the [previous presidents]. I don’t understand, are these people so afraid of [Kocharian] or are they afraid of me?” he declared.
Media affiliated with Armenia’s current leadership also accuse Galstanyan of having connections to Russia.
Also Read: How Civil Contract pages are targeting Archbishop Bagrat and connecting him with the Kremlin
Galstanyan told the crowd that he did meet with the opposition factions of the National Assembly, which are affiliated with the former presidents, on the matter of organizing a vote of no confidence against the prime minister.
Archbishop Galstanyan said acts of civil disobedience will begin tomorrow at thirteen unspecified locations. He called on supporters to lobby deputies and members of Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party to encourage them to join the movement. Their votes would be necessary to successfully pass a vote of no confidence to remove Pashinyan from office.
Galstanyan closed Friday night’s rally by inviting the crowd back to another one on Sunday evening.
“In a short period of time, we will achieve the realization of our wishes and dreams,” he declared.
