Armenians support armed group opposing government
By Rashid Shirinov
Two days ago, Armenians held a rally – they marked the anniversary of one of Armenia’s most memorable events in 2016 – the armed seizure of a police station in Yerevan.
Going back to the incident, on July 17, 2016, a group of 30 armed men entered the territory of the Armenian police patrol department in the Erebuni district of Yerevan and took several people hostage. For over two weeks the attackers killed two Armenian police officers, and then the armed group eventually surrendered. Among the demands the armed group named the resignation of the incumbent Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan.
The majority of ordinary Armenians supported the armed group. They were coming to the building of the seized police station to hold protests against the government.
Today, the socio-economic situation in Armenia is even worse than it was last July, and therefore the country’s population sees the members of the armed group as heroes who tried to liberate Armenia from the ruling regime.
On the eve of the seizure’s anniversary, one of the Armenian opposition websites made a poll asking the Armenians if they regard that incident as a rebellion or terrorism. No wonder, vast majority of respondents chose the first option, and the Armenian government immediately named the survey falsified.
The only thing president Sargsyan did after the seizure of the police station was the dismissal of the government. However, this changed nothing in the country because the only way to achieve progress in Armenia’s socio-economic situation is the resignation of Sargsyan himself and his corrupt team, which have been plundering the country for many years and continue to do so.
The Armenian people are already tired of the lack of competence of the Armenian government and the widespread corruption and unemployment in the country. Therefore, the Armenians, who live in poverty and constant despair in their country, supported the armed group last year.
Thousands of Armenians leave the country every year because they have lost any hope for the bright future of the country that the Armenian authorities had been promising for many years. Today Armenia continues bogging down in an even deeper and hopeless quagmire, and the Armenian government does nothing to stop this process.
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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov
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