The press service of the Armenian Interior Ministry said on May 11 that 48 people were arrested during a protest in the country's capital Yerevan, according to RIA Novosti news agency. The protest movement was led by Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan of the Armenian Apostolic Church (Orthodox).
In April, the Armenian government agreed to hand over to Azerbaijan four villages in the Tavush region in northeastern Armenia, an area Yerevan has controlled since the 1990s, according to AFP. Yerevan also agreed to begin border demarcation efforts in order to reach a peace deal with Baku, avoiding another bloody conflict.
The two South Caucasus countries have been locked in a territorial dispute, largely over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, since the breakup of the Soviet Union. Azerbaijan seized control of Nagorno-Karabakh in a lightning offensive last year, forcing nearly the entire local population, including more than 100,000 ethnic Armenians, to flee.
Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan speaks at a protest in Yerevan on May 10.
Prime Minister Pashinyan’s decision to “return the land” has angered a section of the Armenian public. Protesters led by Archbishop Galstanyan arrived in Yerevan on May 10 after several days of walking. They set out from Tavush, about 160 kilometers (100 miles) from Yerevan.
Archbishop Galstanyan, head of the Tavush diocese, called on Pashinyan to resign and encouraged protesters to start civil disobedience to overthrow the government. Tens of thousands of people joined a rally in Yerevan on May 10, according to AFP.
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Opposition parties in Armenia's parliament have said they will try to initiate impeachment proceedings against Pashinyan. However, the prime minister's Civic Contract party holds a majority in parliament and is unlikely to break with the leader.
Armenia is a treaty ally of Russia and has long been Moscow’s closest partner in the South Caucasus region. But bilateral relations have deteriorated sharply in recent months as Yerevan has sought to strengthen ties with the West, blaming Russia for failing to protect it from Azerbaijan.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/canh-sat-armenia-bat-48-nguoi-bieu-tinh-phan-doi-tra-dat-cho-azerbaijan-185240511175352976.htm
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