Chief of the Armed Forces of Armenia, Prime Minister Basginyan sacked. The reason is a statement in which the army chief abandoned his confidence in the government.
The Armenian army statement said that the Prime Minister and the government were no longer able to take decisions in the interest of the population. “Ineffective measures and fatal errors in foreign policy have pushed the country to the brink of collapse.”
Nagorno-Karabakh
Pashgenyan’s position has long been criticized, mainly due to his handling of the recent war with Azerbaijan over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. In the deal that ended that bloody conflict in November, Armenia ceded parts of the region to its rivals.
Since then, Armenians have regularly taken to the streets to demand the government’s departure. Last week, the number of demonstrators in the capital, Yerevan, increased to several tens of thousands.
“This is a coup”
However, Pasgenian refuses to leave. In response to the army chief’s statement, he had a message to the people that could be followed directly on Facebook to announce the resignation of the top soldier.
The prime minister said he saw the army’s statement as a military coup and called on his supporters to organize a massive statement of support in Yerevan. “The important thing now is that we keep power in the hands of the people.”
