Yerevan, Nov. 12, (dpa/GNA) – Thousands of protesters gathered in central Yerevan on Wednesday, with many demanding the resignation of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, following a peace deal that provided territorial concessions to neighbouring Azerbaijan.
The deal, through which Armenia formally loses control of several parts of the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, ended a six-week fight between those former Soviet republics during which more than 1,000 people were reported killed.
Protesters shouted, “Nikol is a traitor,” on Liberty Square, where up to 10,000 people gathered. There were clashes with police, who took brutal measures to quell the protest.
Armenian state media reported that more than 120 people were detained, including some opposition lawmakers. Protests are currently forbidden under the current state of martial law, and due to the pandemic.
The opposition set Pashinyan a deadline of midnight to voluntarily resign threatening otherwise to hold a special session of parliament to dismiss him.
“Today, we start a movement to protect our home country. We will fight until the end,” said Artur Vanetsyan, an opposition politician and former intelligence chief. The opposition wants Pashinyan to resign and then to reverse the loss of the territory in a new agreement.
A government spokesperson said the opposition would not be allowed to seize power.
Pashinyan agreed to the peace deal with Azerbaijan and regional power Russia earlier this week after Armenian forces lost control of the strategically important town of Shushi – Shusha in Azerbaijani – and Azerbaijan admitted to shooting down a Russian helicopter, killing two crew members.
Pashinyan’s location was unclear but he defended signing the agreement in videos posted on Facebook on Wednesday, saying the move had saved thousands of lives and prevented the country’s army from collapse.
According to the deal, Armenia was to cede control of significant territory in the disputed region, including the Agdam, Kalbajar and Lachin districts, and Russia was to deploy a peacekeeping force of almost 2,000 troops.
Hundreds of Russian soldiers have already taken up their posts in Nagorno-Karabakh, armed with heavy military equipment, according to the Defence Ministry in Moscow. The transfer of troops is ongoing and several Ilyushin Il-76 aircraft left Ulyanovsk military airfield on Wednesday.
Confusion persisted throughout the day over Turkey’s involvement in the peacekeeping force. While Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev had said there would be a Turkish-Russian mission, Russia denied this, saying no Turkish soldiers would be involved.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the two countries would set up a centre to monitor the ceasefire between Azerbaijan and Armenia in territory won by Azerbaijan.
However, a Kremlin spokesman said the centre would not be located in the newly-won areas, and that there had been no talk of joint peace-keeping forces.
On Wednesday, the Russian Defence Ministry said the Turkish and Russian defence ministers had spoken about the new monitoring centre and signed an agreement containing details about it, although no further information was provided.
Largely controlled by Christian Armenian troops for more than a quarter of a century, Nagorno-Karabakh is considered by the United Nations as part of predominantly Muslim Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan has described its recent military engagement as intended to enable the return of ethnic Azerbaijanis to Nagorno-Karabakh.
The fighting, which began in late September, was the deadliest between Azerbaijan and Armenia since they fought a war in the late 1980s and early 1990s as they transitioned into independent countries amid the Soviet dissolution.
GNA