Epress.am News from Armenia
Owners of more than a dozen stalls selling fruits and vegetables on the streets of Yerevan on Thursday marched from the “Pak Shuka” (indoor market) on Papazyan St. to the government building in Republic Square, where people demonstrate on the same day every week protesting various causes.
Some owners of kiosks which the mayor ordered to be demolished followed the example of former political prisoner Vardges Gaspari (pictured, below) and sat on the ground as a form of protest. Others held a poster which read “Prime Minister and Mayor: Let’s start the dismantling with you and your associates’ properties”.
Coming out of the building following the weekly cabinet meeting, Deputy Police Chief Sashik Afyan, Minister of Emergency Situations Armen Yeritsyan (pictured, below, in the suit) and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Arman Kirakosyan were greeted with chants of “Shame! Shame!” Protestors also demanded the resignation of Yerevan mayor Karen Karapetyan, chanting, “Karen, go!”
Also leaving the meeting was Heritage Party MP Anahit Bakhshyan, who told protestors that the issue of the kiosks was discussed during the cabinet meeting. Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan supported the mayor in his decision to dismantle the stalls, saying, however, that each kiosk will be handled individually and citizens’ concerns will be taken into account.
While Bakhshyan was speaking to protestors, she was informed that the prime minister was waiting to speak with her.
After the meeting with RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan in which Heritage Party MP Armen Martirosyan was also present, Bakhshyan told the press that Tigran Sargsyan ordered to put the dismantling of the stalls on hold for now.
The opposition MP noted that in order to verify the accuracy of this statement, she is going to Papazyan St.
A little while later, speaking to an Epress.am reporter on the scene, one of the kiosk owners said that contrary to the prime minister’s promise, the stalls are continuing to be dismantled.