2016 Yerevan hostage crisis
On 17 July 2016, a group of armed men calling themselves the Daredevils of Sasun stormed a police station in Yerevan, Armenia and took nine hostages. They demanded the release of opposition leader Jirair Sefilian and the resignation of President Serzh Sargsyan. The group began a standoff with government forces, with growing crowds of protesters joining the calls for the resignation of the president. Two policemen were killed during the standoff and dozens were wounded; one policeman died of his wounds after the end of the crisis. Several of the attackers were wounded as well. In a 2017 survey the 38% of respondents supported Sasna Tsrer's actions, while 16% condemned.
Armed group leader Pavlik Manukyan (centre) and his men after seizing the police station in Yerevan.
Daredevils of Sassoun is an Armenian heroic epic poem in four cycles (parts), with its main hero and story better known as David of Sassoun, which is the story of one of the four parts.
David of Sassoun, Hakob Kojoyan, 1922
Statue of Sasuntsi Davit in Yerevan by Yervand Kochar (1959)
National epic of the Armenian people David of Sasun. Formed between the 8th and 10th centuries. Hood. A. Kojoyan, 1922
Cover of an Armenian comic book, Sasna Tun (House of Sasun), 1982 by Chris Carapetian