“The PM and government are unable to make adequate decisions in this highly critical situation. The army has always stood by the people, as well as the people by the army” – Armenian Army General.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan warned of an attempted military coup against him on Thursday after the army demanded he and his government resign, Reuters reports.
“Pashinyan has faced protests and calls to resign after what his critics say was the disastrous handling of a six-week conflict between Azerbaijan and ethnic Armenian forces over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh last year,” reads the article.
“The prime minister and the government are unable to make adequate decisions in this highly critical and fateful situation. The army has always stood by the people, as well as the people by the army,” the Head of General Staff of the Armed Forces said in a statement.
Pashinyan has rejected calls to step down and called on his followers to rally in central Yerevan to support him. He is currently moving in the streets of Yerevan along with supporters.
The situation in Yerevan became tense after the Armenian PM fired the first Deputy Chief of General Staff, Tiran Khachaturian.
Khachaturian “ridiculed Nikol Pashinyan’s statement about the Russian missile complex – Iskander,” where the Armenian PM called them “useless,” according to Armenian media.
Following Khachaturian’s ouster, on February 25, the General Staff of the Armenian Armed Forces called on Nikol Pashinyan and his government to resign immediately.
The opposition will hold a demonstration and demand Pashinyan’s resignation in parallel with the rally in support of the Prime Minister.
By Ana Dumbadze
Source: Reuters
