Yerevan protests change location


Protesters have moved from the Baghramyan Avenue to the building of the local opera. Another thing that changed was the rhetoric, report Belsat correspondents from Yerevan.

More and more people have suggested that in addition to social requirements there must be a political agenda. Among the boldest proposals is a demand for the resignation of President Serzh Sargsyan.

The police claim that they will not drive the protesters from the new location, but they would also not allow the movement in the direction of the presidential residence. According to the Belsat correspondents observing the situation the day before, near the protest site there were even more security forces than there were protesters.

Even before the dispersal of the rally on Baghramyan Avenue,  in an interview to our channel, the Electric Yerevan activists agreed: the situation has gone much further than the 7 drams, which was the new electricity tariff growth for the population.

ARAM TARVERDYAN, COMMUNITY ACTIVIST: “It is undoubtedly a political act, considering it out of politics is ridiculous. But we do not demand the resignation of someone, just a normal life. In this sense, it is not a political protest, even though the process is, of course, conducted according to the political scenario.”

After the barricades were removed from the Baghramyan Avenue, coordinators of the Electric Yerevan movement said that they would gather on Thursday to announce a new plan of action.

Although the authorities in Yerevan were eventually able to bring down the protest, they could not solve the social issues that brought people to the streets. For example, in one of the old quarters of Yerevan, an area called Cond, the issue of even minimal growth of rates is a matter of survival.

AN, AB, belsat.eu/en/

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