Tbilisi protesters took to streets because of EU grants as well — Andranik Hovhannisyan

Among the protesters in Georgia were people with radical views who began to provoke the police, international affairs expert Andranik Hovhannisyan told Alpha News.

“I can say that the situation has calmed down now. Everything is calm, and the police are in full control of the situation even though the night was quite tense. There are injuries on both sides, both among the peaceful protesters and the police. I will note the following: initially the demonstration was peaceful, but later people with radical views showed up, who began to provoke the police.

There was also an attempt to break into the parliament building, which made the police use their resources to ease the situation. It is difficult to say which side these radical forces represented because they did not say anything about their political views and did not set any specific political goals for themselves. It just seemed that motivated by emotions, these people were trying to carry out provocations; there were also people who called for a revolution in Georgia,” the expert said.

Andranik Hovhannisyan compared the demonstrations that took place in Yerevan after the 44-day war with the current situation in Georgia and also compared the attitude of former Armenian President Armen Sargsyan and Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili.

“After the 2020 war, when demonstrations began in Armenia, President Armen Sargsyan called on the country’s prime minister to resign, but nothing more. He did not go beyond his powers, did not join the protesters, and did not participate in the opposition. That is, he remained within his powers. But the situation in Georgia is completely different. Salome Zurabishvili very clearly shows that she is an opposition politician, and despite the fact that she holds the post of president and simply does not have such powers, she must remain within her boundaries, within her rights, and must fulfill the responsibilities that she has taken upon herself,” Andranik Hovhannisyan said.

He also noted that although the police had resorted to harsh measures, it was appropriate as they were obliged to protect parliament.

“First of all, the police are obliged to ensure security in the country and especially in such important buildings as the parliament. Initially, the demonstration was peaceful, but when people appeared among the protesters who smashed cameras and tried to break into the parliament building, the police were forced to react to this, because if they did not, they would have to bear responsibility. Despite the fact that the police actions were quite harsh, they did everything within their authority,” he said.

He added that many of the protesters, especially young people, took to the streets for money.

“The wave of protest was also coordinated from the outside; among the protesters were mainly young people who are directly or indirectly connected with some organizations that receive money from the European Union. They took to the streets for money,” Andranik Hovhannisyan concluded.