Protest staged in Armenia against arrival of Azerbaijani MPs in Yerevan

A protest is being held in Armenia over the visit of Azerbaijani MPs to Yerevan. Citizens tried to prevent Azerbaijani MPs from participating in a meeting of the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly by blocking the road to Zvartnots airport. Later, clashes broke out between the protest and the police demanding to unblock the road.

Report informs that one of the protesters explained the purpose of the rally as follows: "We have gathered to protest against friendship with Turks (Azerbaijanis)."

According to the protesters, as a whole, they are opposed to the normalization of relations with Azerbaijan and Turkey.

This is not the first anti-Turkic rally in Yerevan and other regions of the country over recent weeks with calls for war. Protests are regularly held in Armenia against both Turkey and Azerbaijan. They are demanding that the government stop the process of normalization of relations with these two countries and resume the war against Azerbaijan in Karabakh.

Though the conflict has already ended, the Turkish-Muslim hostility and xenophobia does not abate in the Armenian society. Armenian society does not or does not want to understand that Armenia, which borders on Turkic states from both the west and the east, has no choice but to normalize relations with the two countries, give up its territorial claims, and open borders.

Interestingly, in 2016, when Armenian MPs visited Baku for the same event, they were treated quite differently. Thus, the parliamentarians of the country, which occupied 20% of Azerbaijan, were able not only to participate in the event without any obstacles but also to get acquainted with the state of the Armenian Church in the city center, and could freely visit the sights of Baku. Leaving Azerbaijan with a good impression, the Armenian parliamentarians gladly shared photos of their visit to Baku on social media.

Another noteworthy point is that Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and members of his team often claim in their speeches that they are ready for peace with Azerbaijan, but have not received a positive response from Azerbaijan in this regard. Of course, it is clear from the anti-Turkic, xenophobic actions in the country, where these populist speeches have no grounds, that on the contrary, Armenia is the destructive force.

Simply, the Armenian society, which is anxious about the arrival of two Azerbaijani parliamentarians in Yerevan, as the protesters say “for drinking coffee”, proves that they are not ready for peace, and they are propagating militaristic rhetoric, proving that they do not intend to contribute to regional peace and security.