Armenian Prime Minister Announced a Military Putsch Attempt

Earlier, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Armenia demanded the resignation of Nikol Pashinyan from the post of Prime Minister. An attempted military coup took place in Armenia, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said. "The statement of the General Staff of the Armed Forces is regarded as an attempt at a military coup. All our supporters are now inviting to Republic Square," he wrote on Thursday, February 25, on Facebook. In addition, Pashinyan dismissed Onik Gasparyan, chief of the General Staff of the Armenian Armed Forces, who demanded his resignation along with 40 high-ranking officers. "The Minister of Defense is already preparing an appropriate decision on the appointment of a new head of the General Staff and his deputies," he said. The Armenian prime minister also called on the military to continue fulfilling the tasks of protecting the borders and not to lose vigilance. "Everything is under control. It is not permissible for the Armed Forces to engage in politics and make political statements," he further said on Facebook. Pashinyan urged supporters to take to the streets At the same time, Pashinyan called on his supporters to take to the streets. “We are going to Republic Square,” he said. A few hours earlier, the Armenian armed forces demanded the resignation of Pashinyan and the entire government of the republic. "The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Armenia expresses its resolute protest in connection with the dismissal of the First Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces Tiran Khachatryan for short-sighted and unreasonable reasons, which was carried out without taking into account the national and state interests of Armenia, based only on personal and ambitious feelings," said the Chief headquarters of the Armed Forces of Armenia. The military consider Pashinyan incapable of making adequate decisions during the crisis At the same time, the GS called Pashinyan's decision "anti-state and irresponsible." The prime minister and his government "are no longer able to make adequate decisions in a crisis and fateful situation for the Armenian people," it is stated further. According to the military, "the ineffective management of the current government and the most serious mistakes in foreign policy have brought the country to the brink of disaster." "For a long time, the Armenian Armed Forces have endured" attacks "by the authorities to discredit the Armed Forces, but everything has its own boundaries. In the current conditions, the Armed Forces of Armenia demand the resignation of the Prime Minister and the Government, at the same time they warn to avoid the use of force against the people, whose sons died defending the Motherland ", - quotes the statement of" Interfax ". After this statement of the General Staff, people began to go out into the streets of Yerevan, they shout the slogans "Nikol is a traitor!" and "Nikol - go away!" Interfax writes. Citizens gather, in particular, at the building of the country's Ministry of Defense. Dismissal of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Armenia First Deputy Chief of the General Staff Tiran Khachatryan was fired at Pashinyan's proposal after commenting on the prime minister's words about the ineffectiveness of Russian missile systems. Pashinyan said that the Iskander weapons in service with Armenia during the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh did not explode "or exploded by only 10%." In response, Khachatryan indicated in an interview with Yerevan.Today that "this is impossible" and that he "laughed for a long time." Meanwhile, mass protests continue in Yerevan and other cities of Armenia after the prime minister signed a trilateral statement with the presidents of Azerbaijan and Russia on the cessation of hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh from November 10, 2020. In accordance with the document, the armed forces of Azerbaijan and Armenia remained in their positions. Baku gained control over three regions in the region - Aghdam in the east and Kelbajar and Lachin in the west. Russian peacekeepers are stationed along the contact line in Nagorno-Karabakh and along the corridor connecting Karabakh with Armenia, and the border service of the Russian FSB controls transport links in the region.