There are few protesters in the Baghramyan Avenue now. Sitting on the barricades, they are discussing the issue of vacating the Avenue or not. They tend to stay here and continue the fight. Here, the situation is calm and uncertain. The posters with the demands of the protesters are not now in the hands of the protesters but under the feet. The number of the sit-in protesters in the Freedom Square is barely ten. The members of the group regulating the “No to Plunder” initiative are not here either. Hovhannes Azoyan is in Baghramyan Street, in support of the protesters. Aravot.am asked him which of the group’s decision of the protesters he supports: those who stay in Baghramyan Avenue or those who continue the fight in Freedom Square. “What happened has happened. We have two victories. Firstly, the demand – the cancellation of the price hike – of the protesters was mainly met. Secondly, our government authorities realized that there is such a strong youth living in Armenia so that prior to making any step they will think that there are such people and such a youth in this country. There is someone at home,” said Hovhannes Azoyan.
In response to our question that the protesters were demanding to cancel the decision on the electricity price hike, but the President of Armenia announced that the high price will be paid not by the citizens but the government, so whether this is called meeting the demand, he replied, “If the government is going to meet the demands of the people, the public should give the chance for the government to be able to organize the meeting of this demand.” To our question of whether he thinks that after the audit the decision of the price hike will be canceled, he continued, “I think, yes, because the prices cannot go up, because it means that the prices of all goods will go up.” To our question of whether the decision of the youth to stay in Baghramyan Street is right, he said, “I do not want to express an opinion. Who went to Freedom Square, he went home, he stayed here, all of them are our young people … our mission was not to allow any clash. I do not express an opinion about those who stay here and those who go away.”
Read also
Arpine SIMONYAN
