Thousands of anti-government protesters rally in Armenia's Gyumri

Thousands of Armenians gathered in Gyumri, Armenia's second largest city, late on Friday to continue protests against the ruling elite.

According to Press TV, Prime Minister Serzh Sarksyan resigned on Monday after almost two weeks of mass street protests that have plunged the ex-Soviet republic into political crisis.

However the resignation of Sarksyan, who had been president for a decade, has failed to halt the protesters, who say they consider the whole government tainted by Sarksyan's drive to shift power to the prime minister from the president.

They want opposition Leader Nikol Pashinyan installed as interim premier and then for early parliamentary polls to take place under a new election law.

Armenia's acting Prime Minister, Karen Karapetyan, rejected a proposal by Pashinyan to hold talks earlier on Friday to defuse the crisis engulfing the small South Caucasus nation.

ME