There were scenes of chaos as protesters stormed government buildings in the Armenian capital of Yerevan from late on November 9 after Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian conceded defeat in the war over Nagorno-Karabakh with Azerbaijan.

Pashinian’s announcement, which he said was an “incredibly painful” decision for all Armenians, came hours after Azerbaijan posted video footage which appeared to confirm its forces had captured the Nagorno-Karabakh city of Shusha (a mountain citadel called Shushi in Armenian).

The deal to end the six-week war brokered by Russia will provide peacekeepers to enforce the ceasefire. There were conflicting reports that Turkey will also provide peacekeepers, which were not mentioned in the Armenian statement on the settlement. It could be that Turkey is limited to taking part in the process behind the peacekeeping.

Protests immediately broke out in Yerevan, where angry demonstrators stormed empty and largely unguarded government buildings and smashed furniture in frustration.

Outside on the streets, a crowd caught up with Ararat Mirzoyan, the speaker of Armenia’s Parliament. He was brutally beaten up by an angry mob.

The details of the settlement that started to emerge on November 9 showed Armenia conceding large amounts of territory to Azerbaijan.

“This is the approximate sketch map of proposed territorial concessions in Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone suggesting the surrender of significant land by Armenia. Nagorno-Karabakh will keep control of the green areas plus the Lachin corridor. Everything else must be surrendered to Azerbaijan,” tweeted IHS Markit political analyst Alex Kokcharov.