Hundreds of people surround parliament and the seat of government to protest what they believe to be a transfer of Nikol Pashinian
In the context of new armed clashes with Azerbaijan, hundreds of people took to the streets in Armenia’s capital Yerevan on Wednesday afternoon, surrounding the parliament building and demanding the resignation of the country’s prime minister, Nikol Pashinian. They accused him of “non-compliance with Armenia’s interests” and asked him to leave in unison. At night, another protest took place in front of the government headquarters, where the same slogans were repeated.
As it turns out, Pashinyan announced in an afternoon speech to the delegates of the hemisphere that he would be willing to sign an “unpopular” document with Azerbaijan to achieve peace. He stated that they wanted to “sign a paper, for which many people will curse us, call us traitors, even if the people decide to take us out of power, we will be more happy and grateful if this is the result. Armenia achieves lasting peace and security in an area of 29,800 square kilometers”, expanding the country without counting the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.
If it is approved, he added: “I will make that decision (…) I am not interested in what happens to me, but what happens to Armenia.” But the protesters disagree with such a possibility, so Pashinian corrected himself in front of the crowd that he had not yet signed “something” with Azerbaijan and denied that he intended to recognize the transfer of Nagorno-Karabakh. He urged the assembled not to allow themselves to be ‘manipulated’.
This Tuesday, the Azerbaijani army attacked several Armenian towns, mostly on the border, using heavy artillery, mortars and drones. Baku’s Ministry of Defense justified the offensive because of “large-scale provocations by Armenian troops”. The Azerbaijani military part claimed that “some positions, shelters and strongholds of the Azerbaijani army in the territory of the Dashkesan, Kalbajar and Lachin regions were subjected to intense shelling by Armenian units.”
“On the Armenian side, along the Azerbaijani border, there is a concentration of offensive weapons, heavy artillery and personnel. All these facts testify once again that Armenia is preparing for a large-scale military intervention,” the Azerbaijani military statement said. After hours of skirmishes, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev declared at the end of the day, according to his press service, that “the provocations of the Armenian troops at the border were avoided and that all planned objectives had been achieved.”
But the shelling continued after that and also on Wednesday, according to the Armenian authorities, who since Tuesday reported more than 150 of their soldiers and the occupation of ten square kilometers of territory by Azerbaijani troops. Now Baku has offered Armenia a “humanitarian ceasefire”, after it was reached a day earlier with the mediation of Russia and which has become a dead letter.
Armenia and Azerbaijan waged a war in late 2020 for control of Nagorno-Karabakh, an area under Baku sovereignty but always inhabited by Armenians. The match was won by Azerbaijan and Moscow intervened so that the parties signed a peace agreement, which Yerevan also did not like and which also provoked protests.
But a large number of unresolved issues lingered in the air that have not yet been resolved. The exchange of prisoners and the division of borders are among the most important. The latter caused sporadic armed clashes and the conflict broke out again on Monday evening. In fact, they are the most serious clashes since the end of the 2020 war.
Source: La Verdad
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