A look at the nature of the protests in Armenia

According to the international group Tasnim news agency, citing Armenian media, the protests And the actions of disobedience announced in the march with the presence of tens of thousands of people continue since Thursday in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia. visited and called the students to boycott and participate in acts of disobedience.

It can be said that almost all Armenian higher education institutions participated in these protests.

They block streets and highways in Yerevan and regions, invite people to participate in demonstrations and gatherings in Republic Square.

What do the protesters want?

These protests started after the border demarcation operation started on the border of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan in Tavush province. And it continued with a march towards Yerevan with the slogan “Tavush for the homeland” from May 4.

This march was led by Archbishop Bagrat Galstanian, head of the Armenian Church of Tavush.

This dispute arose due to the border agreement between the Tavush regions of Armenia and the Kazakh regions of the Republic of Azerbaijan. According to this document, Armenia should return to the Republic of Azerbaijan the 4 border villages it occupied during the Nagorno-Karabakh war in the early 90s. They want the border to be so close and in addition, some areas of this village will come under the control of the Republic of Azerbaijan and they will be forced to leave their homes.

Bridges, shops, houses and Other buildings are located in these areas.

At that time, the Armenian police tried to prevent the demonstration by closing the entrance to Kirants village and arrested about 30 participants in the demonstration.

After that, Archbishop Galstanyan announced the idea of ​​a “Tavush for the Homeland” march.

The opponents of Nikol Pashinyan’s government widely rejected this idea. have supported.

Galstanian told reporters during the march that the purpose of this march is to transfer grievances and request to stop the “unfair one-sided” demarcation process to the Yerevan authorities.

p dir=”RTL”>However, he announced his resignation ultimatum to Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in a rally attended by tens of thousands of people in Yerevan’s Republic Square.

Bagrat Galstanyan who did not receive an answer from Pashinyan after the one-hour ultimatum, said that the protesters will not leave the square and the protests will continue.

Who is Bagrat Galstanyan, the leader of the protesters?

The name of the 52-year-old Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, head of the Tavush Armenian Church, has never been involved in political scandals and corruption

He studied and served in Britain and Canada. By his own admission, he also has Canadian citizenship.

Bagrat Galstanian announced at the next gathering that the “Tavoosh for the Homeland” movement, which he leads, is in no way against the demarcation and delimitation of borders. Rather, he is against its unilateral implementation or, as he says, based on the wishes and interests of the Azerbaijan Republic.

It is clear from Galstanian’s rally speeches that the main demand, perhaps the only one, is Nikol Pashinyan’s resignation from the prime ministership. .

In some media close to the ruling party, Galstanyan has been accused of working for the Russian special services. At the same time, there are those who say that Galstanian is “a person trusted by the people”. They are mainly a number of Diaspora Armenians and Armenians living in Russia.

Davit Stepanyan, an Armenian political commentator, believes that the former pro-Russian leaders in Armenia are behind this priest and the reason for his participation in the struggle is to determine Borders are not relevant.

Stepanyan says on his YouTube channel political analysis program: I think serious political goals are hidden here. On the way, Bagrat Galstanian told reporters that he had no political demands. After reaching Republic Square, he saw that 31,000 people had gathered in the square and suddenly decided to demand Pashinyan’s resignation and give an ultimatum.

According to this political science expert, the goal of Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan and the political forces around him is to restore Russian influence in Armenia.

Andranik Miharanyan, professor of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations says : The people under the leadership of Bagrat Galstanian rose up to fight the Pashinian government, against the destructive policy of unilateral concessions and the transfer of Armenian lands.

Are the protests supported by the entire population?

There are many Armenians who are unhappy with Pashinyan’s activities and even behavior, but all the protesters are calling for his resignation. They do not support.

It cannot be said that all those who did not participate in the demonstration are supporters of Pashinyan, and at the same time, there are many opponents of Pashinyan who did not participate in the demonstration against him.

On social networks one can find debates between supporters of Western values ​​and Armenian national and religious values.

Prime Minister fanatics and open expressions of hatred can also be found on social networks. .

Some are angered by the priest’s religious chants and the church’s leadership of the demonstration, while others are ecstatic and try to kiss the priest’s hand.

However, the attitude towards demarcation is almost the same in most people.

What is the attitude of Armenians towards demarcation with the Republic of Azerbaijan ?

According to Armenian domestic media reports, the border line is approaching Armenian settlements, even according to one report, the border is right next to the school. passes and Kirants bridge is handed over to the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Part of the gas pipeline from Georgia to Armenia now remains in the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan. There are still no residents in the villages returned to Azerbaijan, but the Armenian residents feel uncomfortable.

Yervan presents the demarcation process as reducing the risk of war. This approach of the authorities spreads the opinion among its opponents that Armenia is forced to make concessions under the threat of the Republic of Azerbaijan, otherwise Azerbaijan will take up arms.

In addition, There is an opinion that the demarcation process is one-sided. Based on these opinions, the Republic of Azerbaijan does not give any concessions to Armenia.

The majority of Pashinyan criticizes for unilateral concessions for the sake of peace.

In Armenia, it is claimed that in this part of the Tavush-Kazakh border, there are Armenian lands under the control of the Republic of Azerbaijan, but there is no question of their return.

Baku believes that the territorial claims It is baseless, because the border demarcation issues between the two countries have not been resolved.

Do the protests threaten Pashinyan’s government? dir=”RTL”>In order to prepare the impeachment bill, 36 signatures must be collected within 24 hours after receiving the form, and voting must take place within 48 to 72 hours. 35 people are present in two opposing factions. There is also a neutral representative. But 54 votes are required for impeachment. For this, the opposition factions must be able to attract 18 people from the ruling faction.

In addition, when the impeachment motion is presented, the candidate of the future prime minister must be determined.

According to the results of some polls, Pashinyan’s rating is not very high in the 6 years he has been in power. Now, complaints about his activities are often heard among ordinary people.

Although Pashinyan resigned after the defeat in the 44-day Nagorno-Karabakh war and won the elections again, it is not possible to say whether this Whether the victory will be repeated in the upcoming elections or not.

Although the participants in these recent gatherings tried to encourage the disaffected with patriotic slogans and attract as many people as possible to the field, it cannot be said that all of them Illegally, they intend to remove the prime minister.

How far is the border of Azerbaijan and Armenia defined?

The installation of the border posts of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Armenia on the Kazakh route is practically finished. They reported that Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Jihun Bayramov said this before meeting with his Armenian counterpart in Almaty. It was cleared of mines and at the same time the geographical coordinates were determined.

Bayramov also said that after the negotiations in Berlin, the parties exchanged views on the draft peace agreement.

Earlier, the press service of the Armenian government reported that as a result of the measures taken in the framework of determining the border coordinates with the Republic of Azerbaijan, 40 border posts have been established so far.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said in a press conference: 90% of the border demarcation work on the border of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Tavush province has been completed.

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