Armenian protestors gathered at Republic Square in the capital Yerevan on Sunday to rally against Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan as part of the “Tavush for the Homeland” movement organized by Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan. However, protestors were blocked from continuing their march towards Marshal Baghramyan Avenue by local police.
The “Tavush for the Homeland” movement aims to establish democracy in the country, eradicating “political suppression”. Archbishop Galstanyan, the primate of the Diocese of Tavush, called on fellow Armenians to join the protest in a video published on X, stating, “The time has come for decisive actions” and that “A new chapter of refining our lives must open”.
In his address to protestors, Archbishop Galstanyan announced plans to launch an extraordinary session of parliament on June 11 to approve the decision of the resignation of the current government and establish a new government. He further announced a 96-hour protest starting from Sunday, which will seek to bring tangible change.
According to Galstanyan, the purpose of a transitional government is to work on establishing:
- A non-partisan reconciliation government with dedicated professionals.
- External relations for true peace, following an Armenian agenda.
- Preparing and conducting fair, transparent elections within a set timeframe.
The “Tavush for the Homeland” movement protests erupted in May and called for Pashinyan’s resignation, sparked by the Armenian government’s decision to return four villages to Azerbaijan in April which was ill-received by the country’s citizens, especially in the Tavush region, following the 8th meeting of the State Commission on the Delimitation of the State Border between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Armenia.
The decision to concede the four frontier villages to Azerbaijan aimed to reinstate peace between the two countries, as Armenian armed forces have suffered a series of losses since the 2020 Second Nagorno-Karabakh War and the 2023 clash, which saw the dissolution of the Azeri-claimed Armenian majority territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, which Armenia has held since 1994.
