YEREVAN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st May, 2022) The Armenian opposition has launched a mass protest in Yerevan calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and a change of government policy on the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, a Sputnik correspondent reported on Sunday.
Earlier in the day, opposition columns from the cities of Ijevan and Tigranashen arrived in the capital and joined the rally.
Ishkhan Saghatelyan, the vice president of the Armenian parliament from the Armenia Alliance opposition faction, said that protesters have already proved that the current government has no mandate.
"Now we have to prove that it has no power," Saghatelyan said, speaking to the protesters.
The Armenian authorities warned that the opposition had prepared provocations at the rally; however, Artur Vanetsyan, the former chief of the Armenian National Security Service and one of opposition leaders, denied the allegations.
"Since yesterday, government circles have been spreading rumors that the opposition is planning clashes during today's rally. This demonstrates fears of the political authorities and one specific person. This is a total lie, and this is done for one purpose: to prevent people from participating in a peaceful rally," Vanetsyan wrote on social media.
He also stressed that organizers of the rally will participate in the event together with their families, children and parents.
Former Armenian President Robert Kocharyan has already joined the protest together with his daughter and son, according to the Armenian news portal para.tv,
Priests will also participate in the rally to help reduce tensions and maintain the atmosphere of calm, Yesai Artenyan, the representative of the Armenian Apostolic Church, said.
"We are praying for the security of our motherland � Armenia and Artsakh, � for the well-being of our people," Artenyan wrote on social media.
The Armenian opposition has accused Pashinyan's government of enforcing policies that are destructive both for Armenia and the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. It claims that more concessions on the issue will ultimately jeopardize Armenia's statehood.
