Nikol Pachinian faces hostility from residents of southern Armenia
Nikol Pachinian, Prime Minister of Armenia, on September 27, 2020 in Yerevan.
Tigran Mehrabyan, PAN Photo via AP
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
The Armenian opposition calls for an indefinite general strike from noon local time.
Prime Minister Nikol Pachinian is widely criticized by part of the population after Armenia's military rout against Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh.
On the eve of this new mobilization, the head of government rubbed shoulders with the hostility of the population in the south of the country.
Publicity
Read more
Nikol Pachinian's visit to the Syunik region was cut short.
Protesters blocked the roads leading to Goris and other places the prime minister had planned to visit.
In the end, he was only able to meet the inhabitants of Sissian, where the reception was not the warmest.
In one of the churches in the city, the priest refused to shake his hand and showed him the way out.
After this step, the Prime Minister wrote on his Facebook account that he was returning to Yerevan.
A border region with Azerbaijan
The inhabitants of this region of southern Armenia, which again shares a border with Azerbaijan, are worried for their safety.
Localities are now within gun range of the Azeri forces and the process of delimiting the borders in progress is tense.
Arouchan Arouchanian, the mayor of Goris had called for demonstrations against the arrival of Nikol Pachinian, which led to him being arrested by the police.
The Armenian Investigative Committee reports that several criminal cases have been opened against the mayor.
His lawyer and his assistant say they do not know where the mayor is and denounce a kidnapping.
►Also read: Armenia: the opposition launches a campaign of “civil disobedience” against Nikol Pachinian
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_FR
Nikol Pachinian
Armenia
On the same subject
Armenia: the opposition launches a campaign of "civil disobedience" against Nikol Pachinian
Armenia: thousands of demonstrators in Yerevan demand the resignation of Pachinian