Occupation of Police Station in Yerevan Ends with Surrender of Armed Men After Two Weeks

Armed men opposed to the government, who had taken over a police station in Yerevan and engaged in hostage-taking for the past two weeks, surrendered on Sunday evening, concluding the security forces' 'anti-terrorism operation.' Reports from the Armenian service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty indicate that the National Security Service of Armenia announced the 'complete liberation' of the police station and the arrest of '20 terrorists.' Previously, security forces had set a deadline until 5 PM on Sunday for the surrender of the remaining 20 armed men in the police station. Shortly before the announcement of the surrender of this armed group, news agencies reported that the last group of hostages had also been freed. The occupation of this police station had created a tense atmosphere in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, and in addition to the armed men taking several hostages, clashes to reclaim the police station resulted in the deaths of two police officers. The armed group, supporters of Zhirayr Sefilyan, an opposition politician, had occupied the police station in the Erebuni neighborhood of Yerevan since July 27, demanding the release of this opposition politician. They also called for the resignation of the President and Prime Minister of Armenia, and hundreds of government opponents had supported their actions by holding rallies in recent days. These rallies led to clashes between the opposition and police on Wednesday and Friday, resulting in dozens of injuries, and the police arrested many opposition members, with all but 26 of those arrested being released by Saturday. In this context, the number of injured in the clashes in Yerevan increased to 75.