Advertisement

Armenian leader Serzh Sargsyan resigns after 11 days of protests

Serzh Sargsyan, who had moved from the presidency to become prime minister this month, speaks in parliament last week  - AFP
Serzh Sargsyan, who had moved from the presidency to become prime minister this month, speaks in parliament last week - AFP

Armenia's long-time leader Serzh Sargsyan has resigned after 11 days of protests against his attempt to remain in power as prime minister.

“The movement of the street is against my office. I'm fulfilling your demands,” Mr Sargsyan said in a statement on his website.

The unexpected announcement came after a group of soldiers joined demonstrations, which had spread beyond the capital Yerevan following mass arrests on Sunday.

Opposition leader and member of parliament Nikol Pashinyan was released from custody and joined protesters in celebrating, his hand still bandaged from a march on the legislature last week.

Opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan meets with supporters after being released on Monday - Credit: Karen Minasyan/AFP/Getty Images
Opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan meets with supporters after being released on Monday Credit: Karen Minasyan/AFP/Getty Images

Mr Sargsyan, who led the country for a decade as president, was confirmed as prime minister last Tuesday, reversing his promise not to take the post. His appointment, which followed a constitutional reform to shift power to that office, was seen by many as an attempt to remain ruler for life, like the heads of several other former Soviet republics.

Mr Sargsyan's resignation will worry the Kremlin and test the current geopolitical balance in the Caucasus region, a volatile area between Russia, Turkey and Iran.

He has been close to Vladimir Putin, relying on his military backing—Russia has an army base in Armenia—to keep hostile neighbour Azerbaijan from invading the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. The Russian president was among the first to congratulate Mr Sargsyan with being named prime minister.

The defence ministry of Azerbaijan, an ally of Turkey, on Monday denied reports that it had moved military equipment toward Nagorno-Karabakh, where several hundred were killed in fighting in 2016.

Asked earlier on Monday whether Russia would intervene, Mr Putin's spokesman said the protests were an “exclusively internal affair of Armenia”.

Mr Sargsyan's deputy Karen Karapetyan, who previously worked for the Russian state gas giant Gazprom, has been appointed acting prime minister. 

Protesters with an Armenian flag celebrate Mr Sargsyan's departure - Credit: Hrant Khactaryan/AP
Protesters with an Armenian flag celebrate Mr Sargsyan's departure Credit: Hrant Khactaryan/AP

Armenians cheered, waved flags and honked car horns on the streets of the capital Yerevan on Monday.

People were “screaming and yelling with joy” at Mr Sargsyan's departure, activist Maria Karapetyan told The Telegraph from outside a Yerevan holding centre, where she was waiting for detained protesters to be released.

The opposition would now push for the dissolution of the national assembly and new parliamentary elections, she added.

“I want a non-violent society, I want justice for all and fair elections,” Mr Karapetyan said.

Earlier this month, protesters declared a Czech-style “velvet revolution” and began shutting down thoroughfares and blocking government buildings in the capital. 

Police arrested more than 300 people in Yerevan on Sunday, and several dozen were detained in Moscow at a rally in solidarity with the protests.

Police detain a man during protests in Yerevan on Sunday - Credit: Artyom Geodakyan/TASS via Getty Images
Police detain a man during protests in Yerevan on Sunday Credit: Artyom Geodakyan/TASS via Getty Images

“Nikol Pashinyan was right. I was wrong,” Mr Sargsyan said in a remarkably conciliatory statement, referring to a Sunday meeting at which the opposition leader demanded his resignation.

Police arrested the activist after the prime minister cut the talks short, but tens of thousands of Armenians still took to the streets.  

Demonstrations continued on Monday, when unarmed soldiers from a peacekeeper brigade marched at the head of thousands of young protesters. 

Political analyst Irina Ghaplanyan, author of a recent book about post-Soviet Armenia, said the protests could not be seen as a pro-Western revolution like that in Ukraine in 2014, but did mark a move away from de facto one-party rule.

“Yes we're a country at war, yes we're in a difficult geopolitical position, but that doesn't mean we can't build democratic institutions in the country,” she said. 

“If you've been following the protest, the majority are young, born in independent Armenia. They have a different mindset and demands,” Ms Ghaplanyan added. “We are on the path toward shedding the Soviet history which laid heavily on the ruling class.”