{"id":52999,"date":"2021-02-25T08:57:50","date_gmt":"2021-02-25T08:57:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiofree.org\/?p=166694"},"modified":"2021-02-25T08:57:50","modified_gmt":"2021-02-25T08:57:50","slug":"armenian-prime-minister-says-militarys-demands-for-his-resignation-attempt-at-coup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2021\/02\/25\/armenian-prime-minister-says-militarys-demands-for-his-resignation-attempt-at-coup\/","title":{"rendered":"Armenian Prime Minister Says Military’s Demands For His Resignation Attempt At Coup"},"content":{"rendered":"
Armenia’s armed forces have called for the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and his government, prompting him to claim it’s an attempted coup by the military.<\/p>\n
The chief of information at the General Staff of the Armed Forces, Samvel Asatryan, said in a statement<\/a><\/strong> posted on February 25 that the call came in “resolute protest” against the dismissal of the first deputy chief of the General Staff “for short-sighted reasons.”<\/p>\n The move “was carried out without taking into account the national and state interests of the Republic of Armenia. In such difficult conditions for the country, such a decision is an anti-state, irresponsible step.”<\/p>\n “The prime minister of the Republic of Armenia, the government, will no longer be able to make adequate decisions in this critical situation for the Armenian people,” the statement added.<\/p>\n In response, Pashinian called for his supporters to gather in the center of the capital, Yerevan.<\/p>\n “I consider the statement of the General Staff as an attempt at a military coup. I invite all our supporters to Republic Square right now. I will be going live to the public soon,” Pashinian wrote on Facebook<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n Pashinian has faced protests and calls to resign after what his critics say was the disastrous handling of a bloody six-week conflict between Azerbaijan and ethnic Armenian forces over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh last year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n