Citizens Wanting to Travel to Russia Demand Border Crossing Opportunity Outside the CP Office

While members of the ruling My Step faction of the National Assembly were holding a meeting at the office of the Civil Contract party, Armenian citizens wishing to travel to Russia organized a protest nearby, asserting that they would remain there until the conclusion of the meeting.

During an interview with journalists, protest participant Arthur Voskanyan mentioned that they had initially gathered in front of the government but had coincidentally noticed the meeting and decided to come here. “We will try to get answers to our problem here because we have been holding protests in front of the government, marching, going to Pashinyan's country house, and staging sit-ins for dozens of days, but there has been no response,” he said.

In response to the claim that they had been repeatedly told the issue lies with the accepting country, not Armenia, he remarked, “Russia has already opened its borders with several countries, and Armenia is a member of the EAEU, having greater advantages for free movement. As you can see, the number of coronavirus cases in Armenia has decreased, which allows Armenian citizens to travel; we just need to negotiate.”

Voskanyan emphasized that half of these individuals' families are here while the other half are there; they do not know how to reunite, and some children have not seen their fathers for over seven months. “The government, the esteemed Prime Minister, should provide answers to these questions; we ask him to create a way for us, these 100-200 people, to go. We are willing to pay for the bus ourselves; let it not stop anywhere and take us to Russia. I believe this is a matter of a moment for our state,” he stated.

When asked if they believed the government was not making adequate efforts to resolve their issue, he said, “We provided lists to the Foreign Minister, who made several remarks that we did not like. He approached an ordinary citizen and told us, 'What kind of kitchen talk is that? I am opening it, go ahead.' Let me give a rough analogy: I want to enter my neighbor's house, but the door is locked; how can I enter? I need to knock on the door, negotiate, and understand whether the neighbor will accept or not. That is the problem; negotiate! People are in a desperate situation, losing businesses they have had for decades, and families are becoming divided.”

Regarding whether they could bring the other parts of their family from there, Arthur Voskanyan noted that it is impossible to live here and repay loans and that people have been working there for years. “Moreover, I think no one will come; I have heard that there are expatriate workers whose seasonal work has ended and are afraid to come to Armenia. Armenian citizens are afraid to return to Armenia because they know they will fall into captivity like us,” he concluded.