Citizens Throw Bottles at Police Officers; Chief of General Staff Meets with Protesters

Some media outlets lacking information about the situation are claiming that there was no meeting with citizens who were protesting near the Ministry of Defense yesterday. The Ministry of Defense (MoD) has issued a statement regarding this matter.

It is noteworthy that at the very start of the protest, the Ministry of Defense offered to meet with the Deputy Minister Arman Sargsyan, who also serves as the deputy chair of the inter-agency commission addressing the issues of captives and missing persons. Following that, Lieutenant General Teimur Shahbazyan, the deputy chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, was also involved.

The protesters insisted that they wanted to meet with the Chief of General Staff and a number of individuals who had been discharged from the Armed Forces. Chief of the General Staff Edward Asryan met with the citizens, and the meeting lasted several hours.

It should also be noted that the Ministry of Defense personnel maintained a respectful attitude towards the protesters, and there were no incidents of the use of brute force against them. However, it is important to highlight that some participants of the protest threw bottles at law enforcement officers and engaged in other actions with various objects (videos are available), to which the police responded with continued respect.