Armenia detains hundreds of anti-government protesters

Armenian police detained at least 226 protesters on Monday for blocking streets of the capital, Yerevan, calling for Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to resign. 

Anti-government protests have been rocking the country for weeks, sparked by the government's return of four border villages to Azerbaijan. The Armenian government has not said the villages are being handed over, but rather that a border demarcation process is underway. 

Pashinyan said the move was a step towards normalizing ties between the two countries, which have been embroiled in territorial conflicts for decades. 

Growing anger over Pashinyan's concessions

Last year, Azerbaijan's military regained Nagorno-Karabakh, a region that ethnic Armenians had previously held, in a swift military offensive.

Pashinyan has said Armenia quickly needs to define the border with Azerbaijan to avoid a new round of hostilities.

Anger against his government has grown since he agreed to return the four abandoned border villages in Armenia's northern Tavush region.

Bagrat Galstanyan, a senior cleric in the Armenian Apostolic Church and the archbishop of the Tavush diocese, has called for a "nationwide campaign of disobedience." 

On Sunday, he said Pashinyan had "no political or moral legitimacy" to remain in power.

Galstanyan announced he would give up his position in the church to run for prime minister and and called for snap parliamentary elections. 

A recently emerged and increasingly vocal opponent of Pashinyan, Galstanyan urged protesters to block roads on Monday and went so far as to personally block an intersection in central Yerevan with his own car when he arrived to join them.

Pashinyan has strong support from lawmakers

Amid the controversy regarding the Baghanis, Voskepar, Kirants and Berkaber villages being handed over to Azerbaijan, the protests have evolved into broader demonstrations over complaints against Pashinyan and his government.

The prime minister, however, holds a firm grip on power.

His governing coalition has a substantial majority in parliament, and the opposition parties are generally unpopular in society.

It would take at least one independent or ruling party MP to launch the impeachment process against Pashinyan, and that would require at least 18 lawmakers from Pashinyan's own party to vote to unseat him.

lo/wmr (AFP, AP, Reuters)