Residents of Armenia's Chambarak (Gegharkunik province), who are IDPs from Artsvashen, are holding a protest near the building of the Armenian government in Yerevan, demanding compensation, which were promised them many years ago.
"The former government promised to provide us with 1 million drams ($2,000 at the current exchange rate) for each house as compensation. They came to us, wrote it down, then left and did not give us a penny," Sputnik-Armenia cited one of the protesters.
He explained that the disgruntled residents of Chambarak arrived in Yerevan today to talk with Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan personally.
Another participant of the action said that they all moved from Artsvashen to Chambarak, where Molokans used to live. Now their old wooden houses are rotting and falling apart. According to the estimates of the protesters, about $20 thousand is needed to restore each house.
The head of the correspondence department of the Prime Minister's control service, Harutyun Gevorgyan, listened to the protester's complaints and said that he has never hearing heard about this problem before. "We invited them to submit documents to understand problem and how to solve it within our competence," he said.
His reaction only increased the discontent of the protesters, which explained that they have no opportunity to make such far trips to the capital often, so they demand that Prime Minister Pashinyan personally talk to them.
The director of the Armenian branch of the CIS Institute, Alexander Markarov, speaking with the correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza, noted that the new Armenian authorities must be aware of the situation that exists in the country. "The question is whether the system solutions can be presented for the problems existing in the social and economic life of Armenians. Specific examples, like the situation with the inhabitants of Chambarak, require a specific subject reference to the problem and allocation of resources to solve it," he pointed out.
According to Alexander Markarov, protests in the country will continue. "It is clear that taking to the streets is one of the last elements in the process of expressing protest. It is one of the forms of protest in Armenia that is used to pressure the government directly, which should solve problems not only point-by-point, but systemically," the director of the Armenian branch of the CIS Institute stressed.
