Thousands of Armenians demand prime minister resign over border villages dispute with Azerbaijan

By AVET DEMOURIAN
Associated Press

Yerevan, ARMENIA (AP) — Thousands of protesters gathered in the Armenian capital, Yerevan, to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan over his government’s decision to hand over control of border villages to Armenia’s long-time rival Azerbaijan. Armenia and Azerbaijan have fought two wars since the Soviet Union collapsed and Armenia said in April that it would return the villages to Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan in September waged a lightning military campaign in Nagorno-Karabakh, a majority ethnic Armenian region. That caused tens of thousands of people to stream into Armenia, sparking demonstrations as protesters called for the prime minister to be ousted.