Opposition deputies failed to meet with the ministers

Members of the resistance movement in France Square organised a procession to the building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which also houses several other ministries. Police were stationed at the building.

Representatives of the parliamentary opposition demanded a meeting with the ministers in order to clarify their position on the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh's status.

The ministers of high-tech industry and justice were not in the building, and the minister of education, science, culture and sports, Vahram Dumanyan, was busy and could not receive the deputies.

Opposition representatives gave details of the death of a conscript soldier at the border

Tigran Abrahamyan, a member of the opposition faction I Have Honour, notes that photographs of the tent David Vardanyan was supposedly in when he was shot are being circulated in the Azerbaijani media.

“On the day of the death of our serviceman, I was told that he was in a tent at the moment when he was wounded,” Abrahamian noted, adding that in general, in this area of ​​​​troop deployment, servicemen are housed in tents, contrary to the statements of the authorities that the front line provided with barracks.

According to one of the leaders of the 5165 movement, Karin Tonoyan, conscripted soldier David Vardanyan was wounded in the leg in the groin area and was lowered down to the village in a sleeping bag.

Former Minister of Defence: “Armenian authorities have not made decisions on creation of minimum defensive infrastructure”

The Armenian authorities have not made decisions on the creation of a minimum defensive infrastructure on the border with Azerbaijan since the war. This was stated by the former minister of defence, head of the opposition parliamentary faction "Armenia" Seyran Ohanyan.

Commenting on an incident at the border, where an Armenian soldier was wounded as a result of Azerbaijani shelling, Ohanyan stressed that the Armenian authorities are responsible for what happened. “Why haven't they created appropriate conditions for defence, safe positions in a year and a half?” he asked. According to him, the authorities make decisions in isolation from the military-political situation and do not understand what tasks are a priority and urgent in the field of security, defence, and border security. Ohanyan stressed that the ongoing process of delimitation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border is untimely. “The Republic is part of the same security system with Armenia, we were stronger. Now we are weaker, and, in these conditions, it is unacceptable to blindly go into the mirage of the Azerbaijani authorities,” he said.

Ohanyan doubts that Azerbaijan can launch large-scale military operations against Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh today. “If we are not talking about large-scale actions, then over the past year and a half we should have created minimal defensive engineering structures,” he said.

Kocharyan's son claims that he has no ambitions to hold any position in Armenia

In the event of a shift of power in Armenia, Robert Kocharyan's son, Levon Kocharyan, has stated that he will not pursue any political post. He told reporters during an opposition rally outside a government building holding multiple ministries in downtown Yerevan that if the revolution succeeds, he "doesn't plan to occupy any political post."

In response to speculations that he plans to run for mayor of Yerevan, Kocharyan claims he has not addressed the topic with his family or the opposition Hayastan party, even though the mayoral elections are set for the fall of 2023. Also, he responded to the criticism that the police “are said to have used harsher force” during Robert Kocharyan’s term. "I don't accept such an approach in criticism. That is, they suggest that the use of brute force by the police at that time doesn't allow me to fight against Turkification or Artsakh’s surrender to Azerbaijan now, do they? What does one have to do with the other?” Kocharyan asked, accusing the incumbent authorities of lying to people and deviating them from the main agenda. “We should put everything aside. Today we have a specific task. We are losing the country and are fighting to stop it,” he added.

Protesters and police brawl outside the government building in Yerevan

Police clashed with opposition protestors who were blocking a government building containing multiple ministries in downtown Yerevan, demanding Nikol Pashinyan's resignation. MPs from the opposition Hayastan and With Honour (Pativ Unem) blocs intended to enter the building and speak with ministers about an opposition-drafted resolution on Artsakh and ties with Turkey, which was scheduled for a special parliament session on June 3rd.

"We want to know if the health minister, for example, agrees with the assertion that Karabakh cannot be a part of Azerbaijan," opposition leader and deputy parliament speaker Ishkhan Saghatelyan said, requesting that law enforcement personnel let them in. However, the police refused to allow the lawmakers to enter the building. A scuffle started between police officers and protesters as the latter tried to break through the police cordon.

It was revealed later that four people, including two cops and two protesters, were hospitalised after the clashes. Opposition members and supporters decided to unblock the government building and continue their march in the capital after learning that ministers had left the building through a service exit.

Artur Vanetsyan departed for Europe owing to health difficulties.

Artur Vanetsyan, the head of the opposition Homeland Party and the With Honour parliamentary faction, has taken a brief vacation to Europe owing to health concerns, according to the party's spokeswoman, Sos Hakobyan, who was responding to media reports on Saturday.

"Our entire staff will participate in today's countrywide rally," he stated. After returning to Armenia, Vanetsyan will join regular anti-government rallies in Yerevan, according to the spokesperson. "When Mr. Vanetsyan returns to Armenia, he will continue his fight," Hakobyan stated.