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Police start dispersing rally in Yerevan

Earlier on Sunday, Armenian Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan walked out of talks with opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan

© Artem Geodakyan/TASS

YEREVAN, April 22. /TASS/. Armenia’s police on Sunday used special means and started dispersing the rally in Yerevan, hauling off dozens of people, a TASS correspondent reported.

Police have cordoned off the area and the situation is very tense. According to some reports, the opposition leader, MP Nikol Pashinyan has been detained.

Armenia’s police made a statement on Sunday, confirming the decision to disperse opposition rallies in Yerevan.

"We warn that in case there is no leader of the rally or he fails to meet the demands by police a reasonable deadline will be given for ending the rally," the statement said. "If the rally does not stop within this timeframe, police will disperse the gathering using special means envisaged by the law."

Earlier on Sunday, Armenian Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan walked out of talks with opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan. At the meeting at the Marriott hotel in downtown Yerevan, the opposition leader insisted on Sargsyan’s resignation.

Sunday’s talks were aimed at defusing tensions after the protests carried out by the opposition in the past days.

Mass rallies kicked off in Yerevan and other Armenian cities on Monday in the wake of former President Serzh Sargsyan’s nomination for the post of prime minister, despite the opposition’s protest. On Tuesday, the Armenian parliament elected Sargsyan as the prime minister. On Thursday, the opposition tried to disrupt the meeting of the new Cabinet, blocking the entrance to the government buildings and marching across Yerevan. Later, some 3,000 people took part in a rally.

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