YEREVAN — Thousands of protesters occupied a central square in the Armenian capital on Thursday, forcing riot police to withdraw in a show of
strength aimed at forcing the government to resign.
After holding a rally attended by more than 12,000 people, demonstrators marched through the city to Freedom Square -- the scene of mass protests in
2008 which ended in violence and left 10 people dead.
Lines of police with shields and batons who had cordoned off the square agreed to pull back without resistance to prevent new clashes.
The opposition is predicting a bloodless "velvet revolution" in what they say is an attempt to emulate mass uprisings in the Arab world, although
the ruling party has said it will not submit to ultimatums.
I'm going to start up a betting pool over which country is next to have epic protests like this. I got all my money on Ukraine, they've been quiet
lately...a little too quiet. Seriously, in the past three months, how many countries have had riots/protests just like this? I'd say at least a
dozen, if not more. It feels like the closer we get to 2012 the crazier it gets.
I would not be surprised is something happened in Armenia, the country's borders are closed on two sides, living conditions are pretty bad and they
are fed up with fake elections and a dictatorship like leader. Ukraine is always so unpredictable you can never seem to predict what is going to
happen next!
12,000 people demonstrated against the government in the capital, there main demands include the freeing of all political prisoners and full
prosecution of all responsible for the killing of 10 people in violence that broke out amid protests after the 2008 presidential election.