Armenian leader says he faces “coup attempt” amid rage over “painful” deal to end war with Azerbaijan

The Armenian prime minister said on Thursday that his army had tried to stage a coup against him, as a ceasefire he attacked to end a bloody war with neighboring Azerbaijan a few months ago again pursued him. lo. Armenian General Staff demanded that Pashinyan cease after months of protests over the nation’s perception defeat the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with Azerbaijan.

The staff issued a statement asking Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to resign. It was signed by top military officers.

Pashinyan called the military’s demand a “military coup attempt” and ordered that the chief of staff be fired by her.

Armenian President Armen Sarkisian, whose role has little power and is symbolic, issued a statement on Thursday calling for “state bodies, police agencies, political forces, all citizens” to show restraint.

“Any ill-considered words or actions increase tensions and deepen the crisis,” he said. “Reaffirming the role of the presidency as a balancing body, I am taking urgent steps to turn off tensions and find ways to resolve the situation peacefully,” Sarkisian said, without detailing it.

Protests that have heated up since the brief war with Azerbaijan last fall escalated this week following Pashinyan’s order to remove the first deputy chief of staff. There are more and more calls for him to step down.

The root of the problem

Protests against Pashinyan began in November after he signed a ceasefire pact with Azerbaijan that ceded the territory occupied by Armenian forces. The deal ended a six-week war for the separatist territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, in which thousands of people were killed, but even Pashinyan himself admitted it was at least a partial defeat.

The two nations have disputed ownership of the Nagorno-Karabakh mountain enclave in the Caucus region for decades. It is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but has been ruled autonomously by and is populated mainly by ethnic Armenians.

A previous ceasefire, reached after a bloody war against the region in the 1990s, broke for the first time in late September 2020, prompting the worst clashes in decades. The violence left thousands dead on both sides and displaced more than 100,000 people from their homes.

The new ceasefire was promulgated under the agreement signed by the leaders of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan in November, published by the Kremlin. The agreement left Azerbaijan in control of portions of Nagorno-Karabakh that were confiscated by Armenian forces during the autumn fighting. Armenian forces were withdrawn from several adjacent areas, but retained control of the rest of the region.

Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev referred to the ceasefire agreement as Armenia’s “capitulation”, praising the agreement and the success of his army.

“For our people, these days are the happiest.” wrote on Twitter.

In a Facebook post titled in part, “My Sin,” Pashinyan called his decision to sign the deal “incredibly painful.”

“I made this decision as a result of an in-depth analysis of the military situation and the assessment of the people who know the situation best,” Pashinyan’s statement said. “Also based on the belief that this is the best possible solution to the current situation.”