YEREVAN, Nov 13, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Armenia on Thursday arrested 10 leading
opposition figures for violently protesting against a Russian-brokered peace
deal that ended weeks of fighting with Azerbaijan and sparked fury with Prime
Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
Prosecutors announced the arrests hours ahead of a fresh demonstration by
the opposition against the accord that sees Armenia give up swathes of
disputed territory in Nagorno-Karabakh to their long-standing foe.
More than 3,000 people converged on the streets of Yerevan Thursday
evening, marching towards the state security service building, which was
cordoned off by police, and shouting “Nikol the traitor” and “Nikol resign”.
“Pashinyan has sold our homeland and now is trying to stay in power,” Naira
Zoghrabyan, a deputy from the Prosperous Armenia party, shouted to the crowd.
“Nikol, resign peacefully while it’s still possible,” Zoghrabyan said at
the protest, according to an AFP correspondent at the scene.
The 10 opposition politicians face up to a decade behind bars for their
role in “illegal violent mass disorder”, prosecutors said in a statement.
Protesters stormed and ransacked government buildings on Tuesday over
Pashinyan’s agreement to end the fighting and took to the streets again in
their thousands on Wednesday to demand the government resign.
– ‘Political prosecution’ –
Referring to the arrests of at least two of its members, Lilit Galstyan
from the opposition Dashnaktsutyun party said: “We consider this to be an act
of political persecution.”
“This government has no moral right to stay in power,” Galstyan added.
Pashinyan earlier in the week accused the protesters who overran government
buildings of being controlled by “oligarchs who were looting our army, our
soldiers, our country for 20 years”.
The 45-year-old former newspaper editor, who swept to power in 2018
promising to root out endemic corruption, denounced the demonstrators for
stirring up unrest when security services were on the frontlines.
But residents of Nagorno-Karabakh at the demonstration on Thursday said
they were outraged by the peace deal, having been forced to seek refuge in
Armenia due to the fighting.
“We lost our homes. Who will answer for this? We are in despair,” said 39-
year-old Siranush Sarkisyan at the protest in Yerevan.
Slavik Esayan, 58, who was also forced to flee his home as fighting raged
between separatists and Azerbaijan, said he would not return to Nagorno-
Karabakh while there were no security guarantees.
“The authorities of Armenia and Artsakh must be held responsible for this,”
he said using the Armenian name for the breakaway province of Azerbaijan.
– No Turkish peacekeepers –
Fighting between Armenian separatists in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of
Azerbaijan and Baku’s army erupted in late September and raged for six weeks,
leaving more than 1,400 dead and forcing thousands to flee their homes.
Critics of Pashinyan issued an ultimatum for him to resign before midnight
Wednesday or face a massive protest movement after he agreed in the early
hours of Tuesday to halt the fighting with Azerbaijan for control of the
disputed region.
The deal stipulates that Azerbaijan’s forces will retain control over areas
seized in the fighting, including the second-largest town of Shusha, while
Armenia agreed to a timetable to withdraw from large parts of Nagorno-
Karabakh.
Russian peacekeepers began deploying to Nagorno-Karabakh on Wednesday as
part of the terms of the accord and took control of a key transport artery
connecting Armenia to the disputed province.
Russian military officials said the mission consisting of nearly 2,000
troops would put in place 16 observation posts in mountainous Nagorno-
Karabakh and along the Lachin corridor.
Fighting between ex-Soviet Azerbaijan and Armenian separatists raged
despite several ceasefires brokered by France, Russia and the United States
that were left in tatters following mutual allegations of violations hours
after they were due to take effect.
Azerbaijan has been pushing for Ankara’s involvement in a settlement and
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said this week his country would
jointly supervise the ceasefire with Russia.
Turkey, a staunch ally of Azerbaijan, was widely accused by Western
countries, Russia and Armenia of dispatching mercenaries from Syria to
bolster Azerbaijan’s army.
Russia has thrown cold water on Ankara’s ambitions to play a key role in
the peacekeeping mission and on Thursday Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said
Turkey would instead monitor the mission from an observation centre on
Azerbaijan’s territory.
“No peacekeeping units of the Turkish Republic will be sent to Nagorno-
Karabakh,” Lavrov said.
Meanwhile French President Emmanuel Macron’s office said Paris would send a
planeload of humanitarian aid to Yerevan, after he hosted members of the
country’s Armenian diaspora for dinner at his Elysee Palace residence.
Macron has previously said France stands “by Armenia’s side”.