Armenia coup attempt: The President of Armenia calls for respect for the constitution and warns of a real external threat

The Armenian President Armen Sarkissian called on everyone to respect the constitution, after Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan considered a statement by the army calling for his resignation as an “attempted military coup”, and called on his supporters to take to the streets.

The Armenian agency, “ARMENPRESS”, quoted the president as saying in a statement: “We have not yet overcome the repercussions of the war that broke out against Artsakh (the Armenian name for the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region with Azerbaijan), which witnessed thousands of casualties and injuries… There are serious regional threats… and a critical situation.

Leads to unpredictable consequences”.

He added: “There are martial law in the country. 

There is a real external threat.

He urged “state authorities, law enforcement agencies, political forces and all citizens to show restraint”.

The Prime Minister had considered that there was an attempted military coup, after senior army officers demanded Pashinyan and his government to resign.

The General Staff issued a statement expressing its strong opposition to Pashinyan’s dismissal of the First Deputy Chief of General Staff Tiran Khachrian.

“The prime minister and the government are no longer able to take correct decisions,” said the statement, which was signed by the Chief of the General Staff, his deputies and dozens of senior military commanders.

“For a long time, the Armenian Armed Forces have patiently tolerated attacks the current government aimed at discrediting the armed forces, but everything has its limits,” the leadership added. 

Adding that the “ineffective” government administration and “serious mistakes in foreign policy” pushed the country to the brink of destruction.

Pashinyan has faced repeated calls to step down, including calls from the country’s president, since the signing on November 10 of a ceasefire agreement reached with Russian mediation to end a 44-day war with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh in which his country lost thousands of lives as well losing land.

For its part, the Russian presidency (the Kremlin) expressed concern about developments in Armenia, after army leaders demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s government on Thursday, a claim that the prime minister considered an attempt at a military coup.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: “We are following with concern the developments in the situation in Armenia, and we consider that it represents an internal affair exclusively for Armenia, which is an important reliable ally for us in the Caucasus. 

Naturally, we call on all parties to calm down, and we believe that the situation must remain within the framework of the constitution.

The spokesman indicated, the importance of cooperation with Yerevan, especially with regard to the implementation of the terms of the tripartite statement concluded between Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan regarding the settlement of the conflict in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

The spokesman for the Russian presidency confirmed that, in light of the recent developments, Moscow had not made any new contacts with Yerevan, but that they could be organized quickly when necessary.