Over 700 Arzvashen Residents Block Chayni Road

Today, on April 12, a tense and potentially explosive situation has arisen in the Kotayk region. According to photojournalist Gagik Shamshyan, participants of a protest, all residents of the Arzvashen community, are justifiably voicing their demands for the government to finally pay attention to their needs and requests for the first time in 30 years.

“Since the collapse of Arzvashen in 1992, four governments have changed, and no one has fulfilled our just demands. We have always been promised, from election to election, that the issues of Arzvashen residents would be discussed and that we would receive a comprehensive response. At the very least, we expected some material assistance for us, the villagers who have lost everything. However, for 30 years we have been living in the territory of Jambarak, and to this day we have not even received privatized land. Our privileges are limited. In 1992, by an internal directive from Levon Ter-Petrosyan, we were not allowed to resettle in any city to prevent the borders of Jambarak from being emptied. Today, the Arzvashen community has around 2,000 soldiers stationed at the border, and it turns out that our soldiers hold no value for the state. Nowadays, if an accident occurs or a natural disaster hits, millions are allocated; however, when it comes to the Arzvashen community, which has more than 700 households, the state suddenly becomes bankrupt and cannot provide any assistance. Today, we as a whole community want to approach the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Armenia, as citizens of the former Soviet Union, to ask for asylum,” stated representatives of the protesting group.

In an interview with the photojournalist, protest participants also expressed their desire to march to Yerevan with all Arzvashen residents and demand a meeting with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in front of the government.