People protest outside Armenian Government building in Yerevan.

Dozens of people gathered in Yerevan’s central square this morning to hold their traditional Thursday protest outside the Government building.

The crowd, including former residents of Buzand and Yekmalyan streets (who were forced out of their houses after the territory was appropriated), parents of conscripts who died in the army in peace time, and disabled pilots chanted slogans urging the president to reinstate their constitutional rights. No environmental activists joined the protest today.

All the cabinet members, except the chief of police, Vladimir Gasparyan, went into the building from the main entrance. Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan had a brief conversation with the parents of deceased servicemen and answered journalists’ questions ahead of the cabinet meeting.

Addressing the case of Hayk Khachatryan, the 18-year-old conscript who died recently of chickenpox, the minister said the inquest into his death continues. He added that the doctor of the military hospital, who treated Khachatryan, has been detained. Ohanyan further told journalists that 2011 was an effective year for the Armed Forces.