A ruling party MP provoked a brawl in the Armenian parliament: a verbal altercation escalated into a fight.

ArmInfo. Following offensive remarks by Taron Chakhoyan, a member of the ruling Civil Contract faction, about the family of Narek Karapetyan, head of the Strong Armenia faction, a verbal altercation erupted in the Armenian parliament. It first escalated into a scuffle between members of parliament, and then into a physical altercation.

During his speech from the parliamentary rostrum, Chakhoyan made offensive remarks about members of Karapetyan's family. Specifically, the member of parliament touched on the involvement of the Strong Armenia faction leader's relatives in political activities. When Karapetyan attempted to respond to the ruling party representative's statements, Chakhoyan urged him not to speak, saying, "If you have the opportunity, speak from the podium."

After this, tensions in parliament increased. Chakhoyan and Karapetyan began exchanging heated words, and representatives of the Strong Armenia faction attempted to prevent a potential fight. However, the tension failed to subside, and the altercation escalated into a fistfight between legislators.

Amid the escalating situation, Armenian Parliament Speaker Ruben Rubinyan did not call a recess. He stated that the session would continue so that citizens could see the behavior of the deputies and urged them to decide whether they intended to continue the fight or return to their seats.

However, tensions not only did not subside, but actually escalated. Footage from the session hall shows scenes of physical altercation. Moreover, cameras also captured the ruling party's Vice Speaker Vahagn Aleksanyan picking up a knife and throwing it at an opposition MP.

The Speaker of Parliament was forced to call in state security officers to calm the protesters. However, the conflict continued in the parliament hallway. Law enforcement officers were forced to build a wall between the ruling party and opposition MPs to calm them down. The brawl resulted in damage to state property in the parliament hall.