Armenia’s Nikol Pashinyan warns of coup attempt after army demands his resignation

Name: Armenian prime minister warns of attempted coup after military demands his resignation
Uploaded: 2021-02-25T10:12:38.000Z
Duration: 3 min 7 s
Description: Armenian prime minister warns of attempted coup after military demands his resignation

Pashinyan has been accused of mishandling the conflict with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh

He has rejected calls to step down and called on supporters to take to the streets, while ally Russia has urged calm

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Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan addresses his supporters in Yerevan on Thursday. Photo: AFP

Reuters

Published: 6:12pm, 25 Feb 2021Updated: 4:27am, 26 Feb 2021

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan warned of an attempted military coup against him on Thursday, and thousands took to the streets of the capital to support him after the army demanded he and his government resign.

Russia, an ally of Armenia which has a military base in Armenia, said it was alarmed by events in the former Soviet republic and called for the situation to be resolved peacefully and within the constitution.

Pashinyan, 45, has faced protests and calls to quit after what critics said was the disastrous handling of a six-week conflict between Azerbaijan and ethnic Armenian forces over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh last year.

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Armenian prime minister warns of attempted coup after military demands his resignation

Pashinyan, a former journalist who swept to power in a peaceful revolution in May 2018, has rejected calls to step down despite opposition protests. He says he takes responsibility for what happened but now needs to ensure his country’s security.

On Thursday, the army added its voice to those calling for him to resign.

“The ineffective management of the current authorities and the serious mistakes in foreign policy have put the country on the brink of collapse,” the army said in a statement.

It denounced Pashinyan’s sacking of the first deputy head of the army’s general staff, a move it described as irresponsible, groundless and detrimental to the state.