Armenia foils assassination attempt on prime minister amid protests over ceasefire
16 November, 2020
Days of unrest following Armenia’s ceasefire handle Azerbaijan to get rid of the fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh culminated within an apparent coup attempt against Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
On Saturday, Armenia’s National Security Service (NSS) announced it prevented an assassination attempt on Mr Pashinyan by former officials. Those officials sought to then seize electric power in the united states, the NSS said.
Former NSS head Artur Vanetsyan, former head of the Republican Party parliamentary faction Vahram Baghdasaryan and volunteer brigade commander Ashot Minasyan were arrested.
"The suspects were likely to illegally usurp ability by murdering the prime minister and there have been already potential individuals being discussed to displace him," the NSS said.
Armenia’s capital, Yerevan, possesses been gripped by protests against the ceasefire since Mr Pashinyan announced at 2am local time on Tuesday that he previously signed a manage Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to get rid of the 44-day war above the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.
The deal enshrined Azerbaijani control over regions of Karabakh it had captured throughout a month and a half of fighting, as well as handing over extra areas around the rump of Armenian-managed Karabakh, where Russian peacekeepers are now present.
Shortly after the offer was signed, protesters broke into parliament and the prime minister’s residence, chanting slogans including “Nikol betrayed us".
On Wednesday, opposition parties organised a rally attended by thousands in Yerevan’s Freedom Square where they called for Mr Pashinyan to resign.
The protests incorporate popular anger with an attempt by the previous ruling Republican Party to return to power.
On Monday, hours before news of the ceasefire deal broke, 17 opposition parties, including the Republic Party, needed Mr Pashinyan’s resignation.
While pressure on Mr Pashinyan and his ruling My Step coalition remains high, it is unlikely he'll be toppled for a while, analysts said.
“The overall political atmosphere for the government is bad and it’s not likely to improve anytime soon,” Hrant Mikaelian, a political analyst and statistician in Yerevan told The National. “There can be pure anger in the streets, following the [territorial and human] losses.”
Despite this, he said the apparent coup attempt didn't appear to pose a major threat to the authorities.
“I think there is no real attempt [to topple Pashinyan]. The military will probably make an effort to stay neutral in this fight,” he said.
There were rumours that officers sympathetic to the old regime could attempt a coup.
While anger against the prime minister and his government is always high, having less viable alternatives has kept many people feeling resigned to his leadership.
“Nikol [Pashinyan] must leave,” said Ashot, 44, a mechanic who lives found in Yerevan's Nor Nork suburb.
“But I don’t know what would arrive next. We can’t get back to Rob [Kocharyan, president from 1998 to 2008] or Serzh [Sargsyan, president from 2008 to 2018]. They robbed the country and still left us where we are actually."
Others echoed his sentiments.
“My life personally got better in the last 2 yrs,” said Aram Vardanyan, 32, who lives on the Armenian city of Etchmiadzin, speaking of Mr Pashinyan’s amount of time in power.
“I think Pashinyan should resign only when the old government will not return to power. At this time, we need to concentrate on some way to save lots of Artsakh [the Armenian name for Nagorno-Karabakh] through the negotiations."
Mr Pashinyan, 45, found power on the trunk of 2018’s so-called Velvet Revolution. He changed Mr Sargsyan, the top of the Republican Party who ruled Armenia for 10 years.
Source: www.thenationalnews.com
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