Armenian protesters block Foreign Ministry in Yerevan

By Ali Murat Alhas and Nuri Aydin

ANKARA (AA) - Anti-government protesters in the Armenian capital blocked the entrances to the Foreign Ministry.

According to a news report by the Armenian news outlet Armenpress, the protesters led by the vice speaker of parliament, Ishkhan Saghatelyan, gathered in Yerevan's France Square in the morning to march toward the ministry, chanting slogans.

They blocked the building's entry and exit ways and then returned to the square after opposition lawmakers Saghatelyani Hayk Mamijanyan and Aram Vardevanyan entered the ministry and conveyed the demonstrators' message.

Protesters have been holding demonstrations in the capital since May 1. Police authorities had announced earlier that 426 protesters have been taken into custody in the following days.

The opposition members criticize the government for its foreign policy in the region and called on premier Nikol Pashinyan to step down after Azerbaijan's victory in the Karabakh region and the following negotiations.

Relations between the two former Soviet countries have been tense since 1991 when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.

New clashes erupted in September 2020, and the 44-day conflict saw Azerbaijan liberate several cities and over 300 settlements and villages that were occupied by Armenia for almost 30 years.

A tripartite agreement was brokered by Russia to bring an end to the war in November 2020.