Vazgen Manukyan, the joint candidate of Armenia's opposition Homeland Salvation Movement for interim prime minister, announced a new rally at the Liberty Square in Yerevan on Friday, February 12.

In a statement on Thursday, he urged people to “wake up” from the “hypnotic state”.

“The authorities have decided that from now on it is required to have the consent of Armenia’s national security agencies to cover various topics in some parts of Syunik Province.

“Yesterday it became known that there is a secret document, according to which the borders of Syunik and the communication links passing through it are determined to the detriment of Armenia. It’s yet unknown what other secret and illegal documents have been signed. After some time, we will wake up one day to find out that we have lost Syunik as it was the case on the night of November 9, 2020,” the opposition leader said.

“Armenia is getting smaller every day; our territories are controlled by foreigners. On our way to change the situation, we became convinced that we do not have police, because it, serving the current authorities, serves the interests of Azerbaijan and Turkey.

“Future generations will curse us. We will have an enslaved part of the people in this area, which is still called Armenia, while the rest will be scattered all over the world, becoming refugees,” Manukyan said, urging Armenians to “wake up and take hold of the country’s future”.

“Do not wait for the steps of political parties! All national political forces stand with you, but it’s for you to decide the future of the country.

“I urge you to gather at the Liberty Square tomorrow, February 12, at 3pm, to decide what further steps we have to take. We are losing our homeland,” he stated.