bbc.comArmenian Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan has resigned following days of large-scale street protests against him.
Opposition supporters accused Mr Sargsyan of clinging to power when he was appointed prime minister last Tuesday, soon after finishing two five-year terms as president.
"The street movement is against my tenure. I am fulfilling your demand," he said in a statement.
It is not clear when his resignation will take effect.
The announcement came soon after opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan was released from detention. Mr Pashinyan had been arrested on Sunday after televised talks with Mr Sargsyan collapsed.
As well as Mr Pashinyan, two other opposition politicians and some 200 demonstrators were held.
In his statement, published by the Armen Press news agency, Mr Sargsyan said he was "addressing all citizens of the Republic of Armenia... for the last time as leader of the country."
"Nikol Pashinyan was right. I was wrong," he said. "The situation has several solutions, but I will not take any of them... I am leaving office of the country's leader, of Prime Minister."
Why was there such anger at Serzh Sargsyan?
He was accused of failing to address continuing tensions with Azerbaijan and Turkey, as well as widespread poverty at home.
His government has also been criticised by the opposition for its close ties to Russia, whose leader Vladimir Putin also moved between the positions of president and prime minister to maintain his grip on power.
Under Mr Sargsyan's presidency, the country shifted from a presidential system to a parliamentary republic, vesting real power in the office of the prime minister.
He stood for prime minister after serving the maximum 10 years as president, despite promising he would not.
The Armenian political crisis
The Armenian political crisis
My friend is relieved. How about Miguel and the Abhazi lover Harold?
Massive stalker
- Miguelito
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I was waiting for Harold to comment/post about this.
Not too much to say - Armenians are generally estatic about this right now. Once I saw some military men join the protestors, in uniform, I knew it was over for Serge. I was there in 2008 when he was first voted in, and there were a series of protests. The government threw in some plainclothes guys, shot it up, then declared three weeks of martial law. A big difference between then and now is that then the government controlled the media, so all people saw who lived outside of Yerevan was video that showed destruction, which the government blamed on protestors, and interviews with injured police. This time people have been near live-streaming the entire thing.
Strongmen everywhere (*ahem*) take note.
Not too much to say - Armenians are generally estatic about this right now. Once I saw some military men join the protestors, in uniform, I knew it was over for Serge. I was there in 2008 when he was first voted in, and there were a series of protests. The government threw in some plainclothes guys, shot it up, then declared three weeks of martial law. A big difference between then and now is that then the government controlled the media, so all people saw who lived outside of Yerevan was video that showed destruction, which the government blamed on protestors, and interviews with injured police. This time people have been near live-streaming the entire thing.
Strongmen everywhere (*ahem*) take note.
- Lucky Lucan
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Let's hope the new government maintains its good relationship with the Russian Federation. Countries in the Caucasus tend to do better when they do.His government has also been criticised by the opposition for its close ties to Russia, whose leader Vladimir Putin also moved between the positions of president and prime minister to maintain his grip on power.
Romantic Cambodia is dead and gone. It's with McKinley in the grave.
- Miguelito
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It is quite literally a necessity for them to, as war with Azerbaijan is always on the horizon, especially with how much Azerbaijan is building up their military at the moment. The only reason the war in the 90’s “ended” [in Armenia’s favor], was the Russian support.Lucky Lucan wrote:Let's hope the new government maintains its good relationship with the Russian Federation. Countries in the Caucasus tend to do better when they do.His government has also been criticised by the opposition for its close ties to Russia, whose leader Vladimir Putin also moved between the positions of president and prime minister to maintain his grip on power.
More protests, to oust the old parliament now.Gardiguy wrote:Cool picture of the protest.
Anything for an Instagram opportunity!
“Get over yourself love, they ain’t looking at you!”
“Get over yourself love, they ain’t looking at you!”
pew, pew, pew, pew!
- Miguelito
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Give them a carrot, and they want the farm...Gardiguy wrote:More protests, to oust the old parliament now.Gardiguy wrote:Cool picture of the protest.
Just as we see range rovers cruising around Phnom Penh here with RCAF plates, they have G Wagons with special numbered plates cruising around town. There is massive inequality, but also a very conservative popluation in the countryside and a younger more liberal population flocking to the city. Couple these two things with the tools of social media and we’ve seen the results. They actually have a lot of parallels to Cambodia, with Russia as their benefactor, stepping in even more when the U.S. tried to play hardball in 2008.
I hope the big man is taking notes.
- Miguelito
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I should also note that I don’t believe that changing their politicians will bring about the drastic changes they want. It’s still a country where you can kidnap a woman for marriage, that has an influential mafia presence, is still technically at war with their neighbor (whose economy is better off and is building up their military in anticipation and restarting that conflict), and is heavily dependent on remittances. I understand that younger Armenians want more of a say, but I haven’t heard a concrete message of what other changes they want made.
This is the quote of the person who originally posted the photo. Nearly exactly as you have stated Migs [emoji1360]Miguelito wrote:I should also note that I don’t believe that changing their politicians will bring about the drastic changes they want. It’s still a country where you can kidnap a woman for marriage, that has an influential mafia presence, is still technically at war with their neighbor (whose economy is better off and is building up their military in anticipation and restarting that conflict), and is heavily dependent on remittances. I understand that younger Armenians want more of a say, but I haven’t heard a concrete message of what other changes they want made.
"2nd stage of our revolution in Armenia. People are out protesting the total ousting of old parliament after prime minister resigned a few days ago. Now Putin is putting pressure on Armenia to keep the old system intact. We are tired of oligarchs, all must go so we can have a fresh start."
- Miguelito
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Yea, they are “tired of oligarchs and want a fresh start.” This is in a post Soviet country that not only is still very much in a post conflict situation, but that has had a heavily mafia influenced economy. Instead of “I want a Fresh start” without taking the reality of the situation into consideration (in what country can you wipe away the entire upper/ruling class and start from scratch?). I’m not hearing that they want a full revolution, and I am not hearing them say “we should take increased steps to crack down on corruption while liberalizing our economy, work to separate ourselves from our dependence on Russia while reaching a lasting peace deal with Azerbaijan, with the aim of opening our Western border with Turkey to help facilitate much needed economic growth. In doing so we can once again join the Millenium Goals, regain lost funding, boost tourism and trade, and start to rebuild much needed infrastructure.”Gardiguy wrote:This is the quote of the person who originally posted the photo. Nearly exactly as you have stated Migs [emoji1360]Miguelito wrote:I should also note that I don’t believe that changing their politicians will bring about the drastic changes they want. It’s still a country where you can kidnap a woman for marriage, that has an influential mafia presence, is still technically at war with their neighbor (whose economy is better off and is building up their military in anticipation and restarting that conflict), and is heavily dependent on remittances. I understand that younger Armenians want more of a say, but I haven’t heard a concrete message of what other changes they want made.
"2nd stage of our revolution in Armenia. People are out protesting the total ousting of old parliament after prime minister resigned a few days ago. Now Putin is putting pressure on Armenia to keep the old system intact. We are tired of oligarchs, all must go so we can have a fresh start."
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