Armenia, like many countries of the former Soviet Union, has had a history of soft authoritarianism. For 10 years up to April 9, the country’s president, Serzh Sargsyan, had ruled pretty much without opposition. His election in 2008 had caused protests that were suppressed, leaving 10 dead. A few protests in the intervening years changed little.

Facing term limits for the presidency, Sargsyan in 2015 pushed through a constitutional change that would place much more power in the Parliament and remove it from the presidency. On April 9, 2018, a new president, Armen Sargsyan (no relation) became president. Three days later, Serzh Sargsyan was elected prime minister by his own party, which had won the Parliament.

The protests of this shuffle began immediately. They continued for 10 days when, yesterday, Serzh Sargsyan met with the leader of the opposition, Nicol Pashinyan at the Marriott hotel that faces the central Republic Square. Rather incredibly their meeting was in public view with cameras and microphones on the table between the men. The conversation lasted less than 10 minutes with Sargsyan walking out after reminding Pashinyan of what happened in 2008 and saying that the minority did not represent the people. Pashinyan replied, “people have taken the power.”

Pashinyan lead protests in the street and was confronted and arrested, along with two other parliamentary deputies. He was held overnight. And it seemed to us all that that would be that. A Putin-esque shuffle and no change in power, a few people arrested.

But this time it’s different. The protests swelled to approximate 70,000 people in the streets of the capital, Yerevan. (The photo above was taken late afternoon Monday.). Sometime in the following 24 hours, Pashinyan was released on the orders of Serzh Sargsyan’s deputy prime minister. This morning we awoke to an announcement that Serzh Sargsyan had resigned. The mood in the capital is celebratory. (I have family near Yerevan, and one of them has sent back video of the street protests for the last few days.). Pashinyan has called for elections for a prime minister in the next week, to be followed by snap elections.

“I am resigning from the post of prime minister, leader of the country,” Serzh Sargsyan said in his announcement. “The movement in the streets is against my tenure. I am fulfilling your demand. I wish our country peace, harmony, and common sense.”

It is not clear what changed Serzh Sargsyan’s mind. Armenia is very close to Russia, so one wonders how this is playing in Moscow. Could he have received a signal from Putin that his time was up? Did Serzh Sargsyan overplay his hand? It’s quite possible, but surely he knew that walking out of the meeting would increase tension. Perhaps the army told him he could no longer count on their support. The army or Russia, or both, could have pushed Serzh Sargsyan aside. For its part, Russia has only said it is “with Armenia.” A spokeswoman for Russia’s foreign ministry said, “a nation that has the strength in the hardest periods of its history never loosen from each other and maintain respect toward each other despite strong differences.”

It’s also interesting to note the role of Armen Sargsyan in this. He had gone into the body of protestors before the meeting at the hotel, meeting with Pashinyan. It was after that that Serzh Sargsyan agreed to meet the opposition. Perhaps the powers of the presidency are changing yet again.

Tuesday is April 24, the day Armenians mark as a symbol of the Genocide of 1915. It will be a very different place that Armenians wake up to than the one they did today. Like Ukraine and Georgia in 2004, it is possible we are witnessing another color revolution in a region still struggling to put the Soviet Union to bed. May it turn out better this time.