Nikol Pashinyan, Armenian Prime Minister, has said he is facing a military coup after the general staff of the armed forces called for his resignation. Onik Gasparyan, the army’s chief of general staff issued a statement criticizing the prime minister’s decision to sack Tiran Khacharyan and called for Pashinyans resignation and stated that the cabinet should also step down.
The statement said that the prime minister and government were no longer able to make reasonable decisions and that the Armenian Armed Forces would not tolerate the attacks by the incumbent government defaming the armed forces. Thousands gathered in Yerevan, Armenia’s capital, to support the Prime Minister as he denounced the military. Pashinyan has been criticized for months over his handling of Armenia’s war with Azerbaijan last year and anti-Pashinyan demonstrations began after he signed the agreement with Russia and Azerbaijan to end the war. Tensions have calmed in the months since until this crisis.
