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The mayor of the southeastern Armenian town of Goris was arrested early on Monday just hours after urging local residents to block a highway and not allow Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian to visit their region bordering Azerbaijan.
The 29-year-old mayor, Arush Arushanian, was among the elected heads of more than a dozen communities in Syunik province who demanded Pashinian’s resignation earlier this month. They held him responsible for the Armenian side’s defeat in the recent war in Nagorno-Karabakh and accused him of putting Syunik’s security at grave risk with Armenian troop withdrawals completed over the weekend.
Pashinian planned to visit the region on Monday in a bid to reassure its population.
Pashinian Cuts Short Visit To Armenian Border Region Amid Protests
Դեկտեմբեր 21, 2020
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Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian faced protests by angry residents of Armenia’s southeastern Syunik province as he visited it on Monday following further Armenian troop withdrawals resulting from the Russian-brokered ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh.
The protests forced Pashinian to cut short his visit.
Syunik borders the Zangelan and Kubatli districts southwest of Karabakh which were mostly recaptured by Azerbaijan during the war. Parts of the districts close to the provincial capital Kapan and other communities remained under Armenian control until last week.
Armenian army units and local militias completed their withdrawal from those areas at the weekend despite protests staged by many local residents. The latter say that they can no longer feel safe because Azerbaijani forces will now be stationed dangerously close to their communities.
Pashinian Cuts Short Visit To Armenian Border Region Amid Protests
December 21, 2020 14:39 GMT
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Anti-government protesters have forced Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian to cut short a visit to the southeastern province of Syunik, amid mounting anger over last month s cease-fire deal with Azerbaijan.
Hundreds of protesters on December 21 blocked a section of the main regional highway near the town of Goris, after Armenian forces handed over areas they previously controlled southwest of the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijan.
Earlier, riot police units sent from Yerevan managed to stop a convoy of demonstrators just outside Goris. Some protesters briefly clashed with police officers.