Editing Yerevan (section)

===Modern independence===
[[File:Yerevan at night.jpg|thumb|left|Nighttime view of Yerevan in September 2013]]
Following the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]], Yerevan became the capital of Armenia on 21 September 1991.<ref name="BJFAO">{{cite web|url=http://www.bjfao.gov.cn/yhjw/famous/asia/11311.htm|script-title=zh:埃里温|access-date=2017-07-08|date=2010-12-20|publisher=北京市人民政府外事办公室|language=zh|archive-date=4 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180704214212/http://www.bjfao.gov.cn/yhjw/famous/asia/11311.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> Maintaining supplies of gas and electricity proved difficult; constant electricity was not restored until 1996 amidst the chaos of the badly instigated and planned transition to a [[market economy|market-based economy]].
[[File:Elite Plaza Business Center at Night.jpg|thumb|The redeveloped Yerevan downtown is the commercial and business centre of the city.]]
Since 2000, central Yerevan has been transformed into a vast construction site, with cranes erected all over the Kentron district. Officially, the scores of multi-storied buildings are part of large-scale urban planning projects. Roughly $1.8&nbsp;billion was spent on such construction in 2006, according to the national statistical service.{{citation needed|date=February 2023}} Prices for downtown apartments have increased by about ten times during the first decade of the 21st century.{{citation needed|date=February 2023}} Many new streets and avenues were opened, such as the Argishti street, Italy street, Saralanj Avenue, Monte Melkonian Avenue, and the [[Northern Avenue (Yerevan)|Northern Avenue]].

However, as a result of this construction boom, the majority of the historic buildings located on the central [[Aram Street]], were either entirely destroyed or transformed into modern residential buildings through the construction of additional floors. Only a few structures were preserved, mainly in the portion that extends between [[Abovyan Street]] and [[Mashtots Avenue]].
[[File:Yerevan buildings and Ararat.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Panoramic view from the [[Kentron district]]]]
The first major post-independence protest in Yerevan took place in September 1996, after the announcement of incumbent [[Levon Ter-Petrosyan]]'s victory in the [[Armenian presidential election, 1996|presidential election]]. Major opposition parties of the time, consolidated around the former [[Karabakh Committee]] member and former Prime Minister [[Vazgen Manukyan]], organized mass demonstrations between 23 and 25 September, claiming electoral fraud by Ter-Petrosyan.<ref>{{cite book|last=Astourian |first=Stephan H. |title=From Ter-Petrosian to Kocharian: Leadership Change in Armenia |url=http://iseees.berkeley.edu/bps/publications/2000_04-asto.pdf |publisher=University of California, Berkeley |access-date=29 July 2020 |year=2001 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130620084455/http://iseees.berkeley.edu/bps/publications/2000_04-asto.pdf |archive-date=20 June 2013|page=44}}</ref> An estimated of 200,000 people gathered in the [[Freedom Square, Yerevan|Freedom Square]] to protest the election results.{{sfn|Astourian|2001|p=45}} After a series of riot and violent protests around the Parliament building on 25 September, the government sent tanks and troops to Yerevan to enforce the ban on rallies and demonstrations on the following day.<ref>{{cite book|title=Human rights watch world report 1997: events of 1996|year=1997|publisher=[[Human Rights Watch]]|location=New York|isbn=9781564322074|page=198}}</ref> Prime Minister [[Vazgen Sargsyan]] and Minister of National Security [[Serzh Sargsyan]] announced on the [[Public Television company of Armenia|Public Television of Armenia]] that their respective agencies have prevented an attempted [[coup d'état]].<ref name="Jeffries">{{cite book|last=Jeffries|first=Ian|title=The Caucasus and Central Asian Republics at the Turn of the Twenty-First Century: A guide to the economies in transition|url=https://archive.org/details/caucasuscentrala00jeff|url-access=limited|year=2003|publisher=Routledge|location=New York|isbn=9780203358474|page=[https://archive.org/details/caucasuscentrala00jeff/page/n67 57]}}</ref>
[[File:Garegin Nzhdeh monument, Yerevan, ArmAg (14).jpg|thumb|Statue of Armenian nationalist figure [[Garegin Nzhdeh]] in central Yerevan]]
In February 2008, [[2008 Armenian presidential election protests|unrest in the capital]] between the authorities and opposition demonstrators led by ex-President Levon Ter-Petrosyan took place after the [[Armenian presidential election, 2008|2008 Armenian presidential election]]. The events resulted in 10 deaths<ref name="ArmLibApr14">[http://www.armenialiberty.org/armeniareport/report/en/2008/04/1012E569-AB17-4FAA-AB68-0CF9FA972F62.asp "Death Toll in Armenia's Post-election Melee Rises to Ten"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080725011617/http://www.armenialiberty.org/armeniareport/report/en/2008/04/1012E569-AB17-4FAA-AB68-0CF9FA972F62.asp |date=25 July 2008 }}, Armenia Liberty ([RFE/RL]), 14 April 2008</ref> and a subsequent 20-day [[state of emergency]] declared by President [[Robert Kocharyan]].<ref name="BBCMar2">[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7272299.stm Armenia declares emergency rule"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201050025/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7272299.stm |date=1 December 2017 }}, [[BBC News]], 1 March 2008.</ref>

In July 2016, a group of armed men calling themselves the ''Daredevils of Sassoun'' ({{Langx|hy|Սասնա Ծռեր}} ''Sasna Tsrrer'') [[2016 Yerevan hostage crisis|stormed a police station in Erebuni District of Yerevan]], taking several hostages, demanding the release of opposition leader [[Jirair Sefilian]] and the resignation of President Serzh Sargsyan. 3 policeman were killed as a result of the attack.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.azatutyun.am/a/27919472.html|title=Մահացել է ՊՊԾ գնդի տարածքի գրավման ժամանակ վիրավորված ոստիկանը|website=«Ազատ Եվրոպա/Ազատություն» ռադիոկայան|date=13 August 2016 |access-date=3 January 2021|archive-date=19 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201119090605/https://www.azatutyun.am/a/27919472.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Many anti-government protestors held rallies in solidarity with the gunmen.<ref name="ie">{{Cite web|url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/world/2016/jul/19/police-officials-held-hostage-for-fourth-day-in-armenia-by-pro-opposition-gunmen-882723.html|title=Police officials held hostage for fourth day in Armenia by Pro-opposition gunmen|website=The New Indian Express|date=19 July 2016 |access-date=3 January 2021|archive-date=21 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200921100450/https://www.newindianexpress.com/world/2016/jul/19/Police-officials-held-hostage-for-fourth-day-in-Armenia-by-Pro-opposition-gunmen-882723.html|url-status=live}}</ref> However, after 2 weeks of negotiations, the crisis ended and the gunmen surrendered.