Mass protests in Armenia

An opposition rally took place in Yerevan on Tuesday. The protesters started to block the governmental buildings and the Prosecutor General’s Office of Armenia. The situation on the Republic Square, where a rally began earlier that day with a demand to resign the Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, was tense. A group of oppositionists blocked a government building on the Vazgen Sargsyan Street, where a number of departments, including the country’s Foreign Ministry, are located. The rally on the Republic Square was started by 17 opposition parties of Armenia, which created the «Movement to Save the Homeland». The rally was attended by several thousand people.

On Thursday an opposition protest took place in Yerevan, near the Government House. The special forces of the Armenian police set up a cordon in order to prevent the opposition activists from blocking the government building. Additional policemen arrived at the area — they were equipped with shields and helmets. They joined the cordon at the entrance to the government building. The TASS news agency reported that a fight began after an attempt by the protesters to keep the government cars out of the building’s backyard. After that the arrests of the protesters have started. The press service of the Armenian police reported that 69 activists were detained during the opposition rally near the government building. On Wednesday, a representative of the opposition party ’’Dashnaktsutyun’’, Gegam Manukyan, called to block all the entrances of the government building so that the Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and members of the government can’t enter the building.

«The Israeli Air Force launched a missile attack on the Syrian city of Masyaf, in the western part of the Hama province. The Syrian air defense forces managed to shoot down most of the incoming missiles» — the Syrian state TV reported while citing a source in the Syrian defense department. «The Israeli air strikes came from the Lebanese airspace, from the Libyan capital of Tripoli» — the SANA news agency reported. The target of the air attack could be the research center near the city of Masyaf.

The Turkish parliament voted to extend the mandate of the Turkish troops in Libya. According to the decree of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, they will be able to serve in Libya for the next 18 months. The decree noted that the ceasefire regime in Libya is not fully respected. «It is very important to not allow the resumption of hostilities, and to adhere to the agreements under the UN flag. Otherwise, there will be a threat to Turkish interests» — the decree stated.

The Somali news website ’Goobjoog News’ reported that the USA started to pull the US troops out from Somalia. It was noted that the first group of the US troops arrived aboard the landing ship ’Makin Island’, located off the coast of Somalia. It was noted that the transfer of the military personnel from the continent takes place with the support of the US marines, arrived on the US ships. The number of the soon to be pulled out US troops in Somalia is about 700. The ’Somali Guardian’ news agency reported that the bulk of the pulled troops will be deployed in the Camp Lemonnier Naval Expeditionary Base in Djibuti, the largest US base in Africa. Part of the US military will be delivered to Kenya, where some US facilities are located.

Maia Sandu took office as the President of Moldova. The inauguration of the elected President of Moldova took place in the presence of parliamentarians, the members of the Constitutional Court, and the foreign diplomats. The ceremony was broadcasted by the «Moldova 1» TV channel. Igor Dodon, who left the presidency, and the deputies of the ’’Party of Socialists’’ that supported him, did not take part in the ceremony. As Igor Dodon said — according to the protocol, he is not obliged to attend the ceremony in which he has no role other than as a spectator. At the same time, he is obliged to participate in the ceremony of transfer of power, which will take place after the inauguration, in the building of the presidential administration. Constantine Reztsov, specially for ANNA NEWS.