Armenians demand PM’s resignation

Pashinyan’s handling of war left nation dispirited

YEREVAN, Armenia — Tens of thousands of opposition supporters marched across the Armenian capital Saturday to push for the resignation of the prime minister over his handling of the conflict with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh.

In six weeks of fierce fighting that ended with a Russia-brokered peace deal on Nov. 10, the Azerbaijani army reclaimed lands that Armenian forces have held for more than a quarter-century.

Armenia’s opposition parties warned Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan that there would be civil disobedience across the country if he does not resign by noon on Tuesday. Pashinyan has refused to step down, defending the peace agreement as a painful but necessary move that prevented Azerbaijan from overrunning the entire Nagorno-Karabakh region.

More than 20,000 protesters rallied in Yerevan on Saturday, chanting “Nikol, you traitor” and “Nikol, go away,” and then marched to the prime minister’s official residence.

Several priests of the Armenian Apostolic Church joined the protest, denouncing Pashinyan for allowing Azerbaijan to take over some holy sites.

Nagorno-Karabakh lies in Azerbaijan but has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since a separatist war there ended in 1994. That conflict left not only Nagorno-Karabakh itself but also large chunks of surrounding lands in Armenian hands.

In 44 days of fighting that began on Sept. 27, Azerbaijani troops routed the Armenian forces and wedged deep into Nagorno-Karabakh, forcing Armenia to accept the Nov. 10 peace deal, which saw the return to Azerbaijan of a significant part of the separatist region. It also obliged Armenia to hand over all of the areas it held outside Nagorno-Karabakh.

Azerbaijan completed reclaiming those territories on Tuesday, when it took over the Lachin region, located between Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia. Azerbaijan celebrated the end of fighting as a national triumph, and President Ilham Aliyev established a new Nov. 8 national holiday called Victory Day to commemorate the event.

Armenian opposition leaders hold Pashinyan responsible for failing to negotiate an earlier end to the hostilities on terms that could have been more beneficial for Armenia. They have emphasized, however, that the opposition wasn’t pushing for the annulment of the peace deal.

Veteran politician Vazgen Manukyan, whom 17 opposition parties have nominated as their candidate for prime minister, said at Saturday’s rally that his transition government would seek to renegotiate some vague aspects of the Nov. 10 peace deal.

Manukyan, 71, served as prime minister in 1990-91, when Armenia was part of the Soviet Union.

Russia deployed nearly 2,000 peacekeepers for at least five years to monitor the peace deal and facilitate the return of refugees.

Aram Kirakosyan The Associated Press Opposition demonstrators rally Thursday in Yerevan, Armenia, to pressure Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to resign over a peace deal with neighboring Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh region. In Armenia, the peace deal sparked outrage.