Protesters block major highway in Armenia over transport changes

Residents of the Proshyan and Kasakh communities in Armenia’s Kotayk Province blocked the Yerevan-Ashtarak highway on Saturday in protest against recent changes to local public transportation services.

The government plans to reduce routes 25 and 59, replacing them with a more expensive private service by Multitransport, charging 200-250 drams for a 15-km trip.

Protesters say this will burden daily commuters and criticize the removal of overcrowded route 25, which links Proshyan to Yerevan’s Avan and Zeitoun districts.

They demand that the government, particularly Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure David Khudatyan, revoke the decision, which they claim disregards the needs of thousands of residents.

Patrol and riot police were deployed to the protest site. According to News.am, the police chief announced that route 25 will remain operational until the issue is resolved.