• About Us
  • Who Are We
  • Work With Us
Monday, December 11, 2023
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Globe Post
39 °f
New York
44 ° Fri
46 ° Sat
40 ° Sun
41 ° Mon
No Result
View All Result
The Globe Post
No Result
View All Result
Home Democracy at Risk

Armenia’s Sargsyan Quits as Prime Minister After Mass Protests

Staff Writer by Staff Writer
04/23/18
in Democracy at Risk, Featured
Serzh Sargsyan

President Serzh Sargsyan has been in power in Armenia since 2008, winning a second term in 2013. Photo: AFP

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Armenia’s Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan resigned on Monday after mass protests against his election, seen as a blatant power grab by the opposition.

“I am leaving the post of the country’s leader,” Sarkisian was quoted as saying in a statement by his press service, just days after he took office. “Nikol Pashinyan was right,” he said referring to the leader of the protests. “I was wrong.”

People have won in #Armenia – Prime Minister resigned! https://t.co/sGOF3ERBch A very decent move considering how many ways this could have gone bad. Congratulations to the people in the streets. pic.twitter.com/68GyxtygZ4

— Giorgi Gogia (@Giorgi_Gogia) April 23, 2018

After serving for a decade as president, Sargsyan was last week elected prime minister by lawmakers in a move the opposition said was designed to extend his rule under a new parliamentary system of government. Constitutional amendments approved in 2015 transferred power from the presidency to the premiership.

Sargsyan, a shrewd former military officer, was first elected president of the impoverished, Moscow-allied country in 2008. After the 2008 vote, 10 people died in clashes between police and supporters of the defeated opposition candidate. He was re-elected in 2013, with his second and final term ending April 9.

Opposition Toast Victory

Earlier Monday, protest leader Pashinyan was freed after police detained him Sunday following failed talks with Sargsyan.

“So has everyone now understood that we have won?” Pashinyan told supporters shortly after his release in the capital Yerevan and before Sarkisian resigned.

Flag-waving supporters cheered the 42-year-old opposition MP and some kissed and hugged him. An AFP reporter saw people opening a champagne bottle and handing Pashinyan a glass on the 11th day of demonstrations in the country of 2.9 million people. Prosecutors had said that Pashinyan and two other opposition politicians “were detained as they were committing socially dangerous acts.”

Protesters had denounced Sargsyan and called on the 63-year-old to stand down. Sarkisian had earlier refused to go and on Sunday stormed out of televised talks with Pashinyan, accusing him of “blackmail.”

Earlier Monday, groups of young men briefly blocked roads in Yerevan and hundreds of students marched arm-in-arm holding Armenian flags. A group of serving soldiers joined the protests while the country’s defense ministry threatened to take “serious measures” against them.

“We condemn the participation of a group of servicemen from the peacekeeping brigade of the Armenian armed forces who, violating the law, took part in an organized rally,” the defense ministry said.

A number of uniformed former soldiers and veterans who fought in Nagorny Karabakh — a breakaway region seized by Armenian separatists at the end of the Soviet era — also marched with the protesters. Tens of thousands had rallied in Yerevan over the weekend against pro-Kremlin Sargsyan.

Kremlin ‘Observing’

In Moscow, President Vladimir Putin‘s spokesman said Russia was carefully watching events in Armenia, which has retained close ties to its former Soviet master.

“We are very attentively observing what is happening in Armenia,” Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists, calling the South Caucasus country “extremely important” for Russia. Peskov dismissed a question on whether Russia would interfere in the crisis, which he called “exclusively an internal affair,” as “absolutely inappropriate.”

Armenian Defense Minister Vigen Sargsyan (no relation to Serzh Sargsyan) warned that his country’s foe Azerbaijan was gaining from the unrest.

“The enemy is looking at events in our country. Instability inside our country opens a road for them to take action. We need to tell society about this,” the minister told reporters. He added the army could only become involved in the crisis if a state of emergency was declared, which he hopes will not happen “for years to come”.

“I think we have not crossed any red lines yet and dialogue can continue,” he said. “Dialogue is better than any tension. I am opposed to Armenians coming out against Armenians.”

Pashinyan, the leader of the Civil Contract Party, last week called for the “start of a peaceful velvet revolution.” Hundreds of people were detained at protest rallies across Yerevan on Sunday.

Earlier Monday, Armenia’s Investigative Committee said 26 had been detained on suspicion of “hooliganism” and use of violence against police.

Share4Tweet
Staff Writer

Staff Writer

AFP with The Globe Post

Related Posts

A supporter of nurses' strike and NHS holds a placard
World

UK Faces Fresh Mass Strikes as Wage Talks Derail

by Staff Writer
February 1, 2023
Supporters of Brazilian former President Jair Bolsonaro clash with the police during a demonstration
World

Brazil Patrols Government Buildings Retaken From Rioting Bolsonaro Supporters

by Staff Writer
January 9, 2023
Armenia border
World

Nearly 100 Killed in Armenia-Azerbaijan Border Clashes

by Staff Writer
September 13, 2022
Azerbaijan-Armenia
Media Freedom

Mine Blast Kills Azerbaijani Reporters, Official Near Karabakh

by Staff Writer
June 4, 2021
Azeris celebrate in the streets of Baku, Azerbaijan, November 10, 2020.
World

Armenia, Azerbaijan Agree to Nagorno-Karabakh Peace Deal

by Staff Writer
November 10, 2020
A local resident stands by a cafe damaged by shelling in the settlement of Dord Yol in Azerbaijan.
World

UN Rights Chief Warns of Possible ‘War Crimes’ in Karabakh Conflict

by Staff Writer
November 2, 2020
Next Post
UN helicopter in South Sudan

UN: Nepalese Peacekeepers Behind Child Rape in South Sudan

a refugee camp in Greece

Far-Right Attack Migrants During Sit-In Protest in Greece

Recommended

Policemen stand next to demonstrators, among them a protester (background, C) holding the flag of Iraq, at Mynttorget Square in Stockholm, Sweden

Denmark’s Parliament Adopts Law Banning Koran Burnings

December 8, 2023
A giant crawler machine used to dredge the seabed for diamonds

Norway to Allow Deep-Sea Mining

December 5, 2023
Dutch politician Geert Wilders

Xenophobia in the Netherlands? Unpacking the PVV’s Surprising Success

November 28, 2023
Ukraine war

NATO Chief Says ‘No Alternative’ to Helping Ukraine Stop Putin

November 27, 2023
Migrants stranded at the Finland border

Russia Warns of a ‘Crisis’ at Arctic Border With Finland

November 22, 2023
People march against climate change in Bordeaux, southwestern France, on October 13, 2018.

Earth to Warm Up to 2.9C Even With Current Climate Pledges: UN

November 20, 2023

Opinion

Dutch politician Geert Wilders

Xenophobia in the Netherlands? Unpacking the PVV’s Surprising Success

November 28, 2023
Afghan refugees

The Blessed and Cursed Randomness of Our Lives

October 25, 2023
Joe Biden

The ‘Polycrisis’ Challenge: Biden’s Vision for Global Problem-Solving

September 26, 2023
Pro-Trump protester in front of Capitol Hill.

The Ominous (and Irresponsible) Chatter of a Civil War 

September 4, 2023
A bamboo-based design raises family homes safely above water levels to cope with raising water levels in Bangladesh.

The West Owes Climate Refugees Reparations Now

August 14, 2023
President Donald Trump in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House.

Boxing Day Comes to South Florida

July 5, 2023
Facebook Twitter

Newsletter

Do you like our reporting?
SUBSCRIBE

About Us

The Globe Post

The Globe Post is part of Globe Post Media, a U.S. digital news organization that is publishing the world's best targeted news sites.

submit oped

© 2018 The Globe Post

No Result
View All Result
  • National
  • World
  • Business
  • Interviews
  • Lifestyle
  • Democracy at Risk
    • Media Freedom
  • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Columns
    • Book Reviews
    • Stage
  • Submit Op-ed

© 2018 The Globe Post