‘The authorities are doing everything possible to make us leave and fill this vacuum with Turks’: protester

Tigran Martoyan, a sole trader participating in a protest at Yerevan’s Republic Square, told Alpha News that the country’s authorities are intentionally making life difficult for businesses so that Armenians leave and Turks take their place.

“We have to leave all our businesses and deal with paperwork. But we are traders… They (the Armenian authorities) make life difficult for us, do everything possible so that we close our business and leave, so that Armenia empties out and this vacuum is filled by Turks,” he said.

Representatives of small businesses are protesting against the increase of sales tax, which will rise from 5% to 10% from January 1, 2025.

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