Azernews.Az

By Aynur Karimova

The price hike demonstrations haven’t slowed down over the last several days. By June 26, the number of participants of the Yerevan rally had increased by several times, News.am reported.

Along with Baghramyan Avenue, the Moskovyan-Baghramyan crossroad has also been blocked up to France Square, which does even more to hamper the flow of traffic in the city center.

Police have urged protestors to free the crossroad in order not to obstruct traffic on Moskovyan Street.

The Armenian police used force to break up the rally on June 23. A sit-in was held in protest against a recent decision to increase electricity tariffs. Police responded by dispersing the crowd with the help of water cannons. Nearly 240 people got arrested as a result of violent crackdown, including journalists from Gala TV, Radio Liberty’s Armenian service, the Haykakan Zhamanak newspaper, the Hetq, News.am, and Panarmenian.net news agencies.

Armenia’s Public Services Regulatory Commission, considering a request from the national distribution company, Electric Networks of Armenia, which is a subsidiary of the Russian Inter RAO UES, raised electricity tariffs by 6.93 Armenian drams (about $0.015) on June 17. This caused discontent among a population that believes that the rise in the cost of electricity will lead to higher prices for essential goods and services.

On June 25, Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan urged the protestors to free Baghramyan Avenue. He said the government is ready to discuss any issue, but impeding the free movement of the citizens is in violation of the country’s constitution and laws.

The participants of the rally, however, do not intend to leave the avenue, RIA Novosti reported.

“Hovik Abrahamyan’s remarks do not mean anything for us,” said Vaginak Shushanyan, the organizer of the protest action "No robbery!" public initiative, on Radio Azatutyun (Armenian service of Radio Liberty). "The members of the initiative will try to change their strategy, since the authorities do not want to pay attention and understand how long we are ready to stay here.”

Sargsyan's regime will fall

Experts believe that the protests in Armenia are caused by political problems.

Professor Guram Markhulia, the President of the Caucasian International Research Center for Geohistory and Geopolitics, told Trend that Serzh Sargsyan’s regime in Armenia is likely to fall “before the end of the first European Games in Baku… new political forces will come to power in Armenia.”

The expert also urged the Azerbaijan and Georgian governments to be prepared militarily as the Armenian authorities could provoke violence at the border and the line of contact in Nagorno-Karabakh to distract people from domestic problems.

“Perhaps, Armenia will undertake some provocations on the borders in all directions in order to divert people's attention,” Markhulia said. “Small local wars and border clashes start in such cases. In this sense, it is possible that some problems may arise between Armenia and Georgia. I think that both Georgia and Azerbaijan should be prepared to address issues in the military sphere.”

The expert believes that events in Armenia show that the country is leaving the geopolitical influence of Russia moving toward Western influence. Further developments will depend on the decision of new leaders in the country.

“Armenia cannot solve anything on its own,” he said. “The Armenian authorities will do as their new allies say.”

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Aynur Karimova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Aynur_Karimova

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