Region

When in July 2016 the news that an attempt of a military coup had begun in Turkey, it seemed like a headline from the past: military takeover of power had become an almost routine phenomenon in Turkey in the second half of the previous century.

It is hard to surprise Armenians with political protests. Street rallies, demonstrations, clashes between police and the protesters are almost as usual part of Yerevan life as overcrowded minibuses or open air cafes. But what happened this July was unprecedented for Armenia. a group of armed men, who declared an armed uprising, seized a police building, kept control of it for two weeks, while thousands of their supporters rallied outside. The July events represented probably the most serious internal political crisis in Armenia, since the post-election protests of 2008.