Yerevan Street Traders Say Their Only Hope is Early Elections

Yerevan City Hall staff continue to persecute street vendors along Tigran Mets (also spelled Tigran Medz) Ave., not allowing them to trade, one of the traders, Emma, told Epress.am on Wednesday.

According to her, a few of the street traders have been given spots in the passage adjacent to the Ayrarat trade centre. “They accommodated a few here; the rest are in the air; they don’t know what to do. But we’ve heard they also want to take the [pedestrian] underpass. We don’t know what we’re going to do; our hope is that something will change by year end.” A few of the other traders also told Epress.am that their only hope is pre-term elections.

“Let’s see what happens. We don’t know how we’re going to live; our only hope now is early [elections], so we can breathe a little,” they said.

Note, since January this year, Yerevan street vendors have been protesting the city’s decision to ban street trade with regular demonstrations outside the Armenian government building, Yerevan City Hall and the RA presidential residence. They are asking the decision be annulled, noting that they trade “in order to earn money for a piece of bread.”