Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian will lead a procession on December 19 in Yerevan to mourn people who died in six weeks of fierce fighting in and around the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Pashinian said on Facebook the mourning procession will begin at 1 p.m. and will travel from Republic Square to the Erablur Military Pantheon.
His spokesman Mane Gevorgian told local media on December 18 that Pashinian will lead the procession.
Armenia has declared a three-day mourning period beginning December 19. Prayer services for the fallen will be held at churches nationwide on December 20.
Pashinian has been under fire since agreeing to a Moscow-brokered deal with Azerbaijan that took effect on November 10, ending the fighting.
His opponents want him to quit over what they say was his disastrous handling of the conflict that handed Azerbaijan swaths of territory ethnic Armenians had controlled since the 1990s.
Some mothers of soldiers who were killed said in a statement quoted by Interfax that they will not allow Pashinian onto the grounds of the pantheon.
In addition, the opposition plans a rally beginning at 3 p.m. on December 19 to renew calls for Pashinian’s resignation. They also plan another rally on December 22 and are urging Armenians to stage a national strike the same day, Interfax reported.
Based on reporting by Interfax
This post was originally published on Radio Free.
