Armenian PM warns of coup attempt after army demands his resignation


Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan warned of an attempted military coup against him on Thursday after the army demanded he and his government resign.

Pashinyan has faced protests and calls to quit after what critics said was the disastrous handling of a six-week conflict between Azerbaijan and ethnic Armenian forces over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh last year. Pashinyan, 45, has rejected calls to step down.

On Thursday, he called on followers to rally in the center of the capital, Yerevan, to support him and took to Facebook to address the nation in a livestream.

The livestream, he dismissed the head of the general staff of the armed forces and said a replacement would be announced later. He said the crisis would be overcome constitutionally.


“The most important problem now is to keep the power in the hands of the people, because I consider what is happening to be a military coup,” Pashinyan said.

It was unclear whether the army was willing to use force to back the statement in which it called for Pashinyan to resign, or whether its call for him to step down was just verbal.

The Kremlin said on Thursday it was concerned by growing political tensions in Armenia after the army demanded Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan resign in a move Pashinyan said looked like an attempted coup.
Speaking to reporters on a conference call, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called on both sides to resolve their differences peacefully and within the framework of the constitution.
Armenia, where Moscow has a military base, is a close Russian ally.

Arayik Harutyunyan, the president of the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave, offered to act as a mediator between Pashinyan and the general staff.

“We have already shed enough blood. It’s time to overcome the crises and move on. I’m in Yerevan and I’m ready to become a mediator to overcome this political crisis,” he said, urging all sides not to escalate.

Ethnic Armenian troops ceded swathes of territory in and around Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijan in a conflict last year that killed thousands of people.

A cease-fire signed by leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia last November halted military action in and around the enclave, which is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but populated by ethnic Armenians. Some 2,000 Russian peacekeeping troops are now being deployed to the region. 

Russia also has a military base in Armenia, a former Soviet republic.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has accused top military officers of attempting a coup after they demanded he step down, adding fuel to months-long protests calling for his resignation.

Anti-government sentiment swelled last November after a conflict with Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh region ended, and gathered pace again this week.With pressure on Pashinyan mounting as protesters decry his handling of that war, the military on Thursday issued a statement calling for his resignation.

Pashinyan responded by firing Onik Gasparyan, head of the army’s General Staff, and later took to the streets of the capital, Yerevan, in a bid to rally supporters behind him. Thousands came out in support of Pashinyan.

But throngs of opposition demonstrators also took to the streets of Yerevan on Thursday, chanting “Nikol, you traitor!” and “Nikol, resign!” while blocking streets and paralysing traffic around the capital.

Pashinyan is facing the greatest challenge to his leadership since his rise to power amid a wave of anti-government demonstrations in 2018.

Find out more about the 45-year-old’s political career to date here.

Azeri leader issues warning over Nagorno-Karabakh

Azeri President Ilham Aliyev warns Armenia against “revanchist thoughts” following the conclusion of last year’s Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

“The war [in Nagorno-Karabakh] is over,” Russian state news agency RIA Novosti quoted Aliyev as saying.

“If someone lives with revanchist thoughts, he will see this fist, it is in place, and our patience should not be tested,” he said. “We will never again allow any threat to us or our citizens who will return to the liberated lands.”

Pashinyan tells the army to do its job

Addressing his supporters at a rally in Yerevan, Pashinyan says that Armenians will not allow a military coup to take place and tells the army to do its job and defend the country.

Pashinyan said the question of his resignation could only be decided by the people because he was elected by the people.

Armenian president taking ‘urgent measures’ to defuse crisis

Armenia’s President Armen Sarkisian says he is taking urgent steps to end the country’s rapidly-escalating political crisis.

“Reaffirming the role of the presidency as a balancing body, I am taking urgent measures to defuse tensions and find ways to resolve the situation peacefully,” Sarkisian said in a statement.

He also called on “everyone – state bodies, law enforcement agencies, political forces, all citizens – to show restraint and common sense”.

“Every ill-considered word or action increases tensions and deepens the crisis,” Sarkisian, whose role is largely symbolic, said. 

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