Two activists go on hunger strike in a square in Yerevan

Nver Kirakosyan and Arthur Avagyan joined a protest action held by Nikol Pashinyan’s opponents in a square in Yerevan and went on a hunger strike to draw the attention of Armenian residents to the problem of the status of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that on April 17, Arthur Vanetsyan, the leader of the “Hayrenik” Party, the head of the “I have the Honour” parliamentary faction, and his supporters announced a round-the-clock protest action in Liberty Square in Yerevan and spent the night on the square.

Since April 16, the square also has been hosting an action of veterans of the Karabakh war. Participants of both protest actions speak in favour of supporting Nagorno-Karabakh and criticize the policy of Nikol Pashinyan, who announced the possibility of “lowering the bar” on the issue of the status of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Today, two activists have declared a hunger strike with a call to unite around a common problem related to the situation in the country, Arthur Vanetsyan has reported on Facebook*.

He has also added that he personally requested the young people to stop the hunger strike and will try to convince them again, as “there is still a long way to go through together.”

Nver Kirakosyan stated that the hunger strike is indefinite and that many of his friends spoke against it, because they were worried about his health.

In turn, Arthur Avagyan has noted that the hunger strike is “not an action, but a reaction to the Nikol Pashinyan’s statement about the need to “lower the bar on the status of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh).”

* On March 21, the Tverskoi Court of Moscow banned in Russia the activities of Meta Company that owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp because of extremist activities.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on April 18, 2022 at 01:46 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.