Live updates: Pashinyan condemns ‘military coup’

Armenia’s top military brass have released a statement calling for Nikol Pashinyan’s resignation. Nikol Pashinyan has called the move ‘a military coup’ and has called for supporters to gather on Yerevan’s Republic Square. 

Armenia’s General Staff of the Armed Forces have said that their call for Pashinyan’s resignation was triggered by Pashinyan’s firing of Tigran Khachatryan, first deputy chief of the General Staff. 

Following the announcement, Nikol Pashinyan also ordered the removal of the head of the General Staff, Onnik Gasparyan. Additionally, in a live Facebook address delivered shortly after noon today, Pashinyan called on the military to respect the country’s constitution. ‘It is unacceptable for the army to participate in political processes’, he said.

In a Facebook post, Nagorno-Karabakh President Arayik Harutyunyan has expressed his willingness to act as a mediator to help resolve the crisis. 

‘I call on all parties to show sobriety and common sense, otherwise, our defeat will be much deeper and more fatal’, Harutyunyan said. ‘Being in Yerevan now, I am ready to honourably fulfil my mediation mission in overcoming this political crisis.’

The rest of the day saw twin rallies by Pashinyan supporters and opposition, respectively, with the opposition eventually setting up camp near the Armenian parliament on Baghramyan Avenue. 

 For ease of reading, we choose not to use qualifiers such as ‘de facto’, ‘unrecognised’, or ‘partially recognised’ when discussing institutions or political positions within Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh, and South Ossetia. This does not imply a position on their status