ALBAWABA - Reports emerged from Armenia confirming that the police have detained hundreds of protestors who took to the streets demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan over territorial concessions made to arch-foe Azerbaijan.
Last month, the government decided to return territory it had ruled over since the 1990s to neighboring Azerbaijan, prompting protests across the Caucasus nation.
After organizing street rallies in 2018, Pashinyan, a former journalist and opposition MP, led a peaceful revolution that brought him to power.
Hundreds of demonstrators attempted to block roadways on Monday throughout Armenia in what Galstanyan has referred to as a "nationwide campaign of disobedience."
"As of 0900 GMT, a total of 273 citizens were detained for disobeying the lawful demands of police," according to the interior ministry. Last week, Armenia gave up sovereignty of four border towns it had captured decades ago to Azerbaijan, a significant step in normalizing relations between the two nations, who fought two wars for control of the Nagorno-Karabakh territory.
The territory Armenia has returned is strategically significant for the landlocked country since it controls parts of a critical route to Georgia.
Armenian citizens of adjacent communities claim the move isolates them from the rest of the country and accuse Pashinyan of handing over territory without receiving anything in return.
