KIRANTS, Armenia -- Archbishop Bagrat Galstanian, who has emerged as the leader of Armenia’s border protests in recent weeks, traveled to the village of Kirants on May 20, exchanging embraces with residents of one of the settlements behind the massive protests against Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s government.
The outspoken head of the Tavush Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church had traveled to his home area after it was again cordoned off by police to allow the finalization of a controversial demarcation deal with Azerbaijan.
The archbishop demanded access to his flock inside the village upon encountering the police roadblock.
He engaged in a brief altercation with a plainclothes police officer overseeing the operation before appearing in the village for a short period.
SEE ALSO: Armenian PM Praises Border Deal With Azerbaijan Amid Fresh ProtestsGalstanian told RFE/RL he had entered the village of some 330 people using a “direct route,” but did not elaborate.
He complained that the police roadblocks were preventing needed food supplies from entering the village.
The archbishop was later seen getting into a car along with other people, including the plainclothes police officer he had earlier faced off with, and being driven off, presumably out of the village.
Protesters led by the charismatic cleric have been opposed to what they call “unilateral territorial concessions” to Azerbaijan as they demand Pashinian’s resignation over his security policies.
Rallies against the government have been held for weeks in Yerevan and elsewhere in protest against the border deal.
Under the border demarcation deal with Baku, Armenia cedes control of four villages that were part of Azerbaijan during the Soviet era but which have been controlled by Armenia since the 1990s.
The United States and the European Union have hailed the deal, but the Pashinian government has been accused by opposition politicians of giving up territory to Azerbaijan with no guarantees.
SEE ALSO: Armenian Border Protesters March Toward YerevanPashinian has said the unilateral concessions are necessary to prevent Azerbaijani military aggression against Armenia. The Armenian opposition maintains he is encouraging Baku to demand more territory from Armenia and to use force for that purpose.
Galstanian and his supporters in early May began marching to Yerevan from Kirants in the northern Tavush Province to try to scuttle the handover of border areas adjacent to the village and nearby Tavush communities.
The decision was announced two days after police cracked down on Kirants protesters who tried to stop authorities from clearing an adjacent area of land mines and make other preparations for its handover to Azerbaijan. The police presence in and around the village remained strong after the crackdown.
Galstanian has raised the possibility of seeking Pashinian’s impeachment, but with parliament controlled by Pashinian's Civil Contract party and senior lawmakers representing it insisting that neither they nor any of their pro-government colleagues will back such a motion, it remains unclear whether a vote will ever take place.