Tense Situation: Beret-Wearing Officers Forcefully Removed Council Members

During an extraordinary session of the Yerevan City Council, a scuffle erupted. Mayor Tigran Avinyan called the police into the hall, leading to the removal of a member from the "Mother Armenia" faction.

“Hooliganism will not be tolerated in this hall. You will take your street-level disturbances out of this chamber. I hereby invite you to leave as chair of the session. Do not interfere, step outside, calm down,” said Avinyan.

The beret-wearing officers forcefully dragged opposition council members out of the hall.

During a break in the extraordinary session, Samvel Hakobyan, a member of the "Mother Armenia" faction, emphasized in a conversation with journalists that red berets had apprehended him on Avinyan's orders, stating: “Tigran Avinyan and Alen Simonyan are of the same caliber; they only raise their voices from a distance. Before taking office, they didn’t know what it meant to raise voices, or to be confrontational; they were just timid boys.”

“I was asking a substantive question regarding the salaries of transport inspectors, and instead of having a meaningful conversation, Tigran Avinyan decided he was my homeroom teacher; he thinks he should say 'yes', and I should sit quietly,” added the opposition council member.