After violently cracking down last week, the president now promises populist reforms and an end to the cronyism that has enriched the former strongman’s family.
For the most part, pro-government forces did not sympathize with the protests, but they also didn’t like the idea of Russia and Armenia getting involved in suppressing them.
Many object that the CSTO didn’t aid Armenia when it asked for help, and pointed at the irony of the current government coming to power as the result of street protests.
The president has doubled down on his claims that terrorists with foreign backing are behind the protests, which began this week over fuel prices then snowballed.
The Russia-led security bloc will be sending peacekeeping forces, the first time in its history that its collective security provision has been exercised.