Residents of Armenia and Karabakh forced to participate in pro-government rally, opposition reports

The authorities use the administrative resource in an attempt to ensure the mass nature of the rally scheduled for today in the centre of Yerevan, the opposition claim. The press service of the President of Nagorno-Karabakh announced that no public sector employees were sent to the rally initiated by Nikol Pashinyan.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on February 25, in Armenia, a new wave of protests began with the demand for the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

Arthur Markosyan, a supporter of the "Prosperous Armenia" Party, says that he has been on duty on Bagramyan Avenue for the fourth night in a row. "We need early elections to get out of the crisis. Nikol Pashinyan called a rally. It is clear that he is not going to resign in a civilized way and is provoking clashes. However, we will do everything to prevent something like that," the activist told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Gegam Manukyan, the spokesman for the opposition "Movement to Save the Motherland", states that Nikol Pashinyan instructed the directors of regional administrations and individual ministries to discuss at meetings held behind closed doors how to use the administrative resource to gather people for pro-government rallies. "All that is being recorded on video and will be made public," Gegam Manukyan wrote in his today's post on Facebook, as translated from the Armenian language by the "Caucasian Knot".

In turn, the press service of the President of Nagorno-Karabakh denied the information disseminated by Telegram channels that the Karabakh authorities were sending 1000 people to Yerevan for participation in the pro-government rally. "This is not true," said Lusine Avanesyan, the press secretary for the President of Nagorno-Karabakh, as quoted by the "Sputnik Armenia".

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on March 1, 2021 at 02:29 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.