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Armenia’s foreign minister resigns amid outrage over ceasefire deal

Monday, 16 November 2020 4:02 PM [ Last Update: Monday, 16 November 2020 4:29 PM ]

Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan speaks at a press conference in Moscow on October 12, 2020. (File photo by AFP)

Armenia’s Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan has resigned amid growing discontent across the South Caucasus nation with a recent ceasefire agreement between the Armenian government and Azerbaijan.

The Foreign Ministry made the announcement via Facebook on Monday.

Mnatsakanyan had held the position since May 2018.

The administration of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has been under pressure since a large protest last week with thousands of people in attendance demanding that he step down over the truce, which secured territorial advances for Azerbaijan in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh following six weeks of intense fighting.

The ceasefire halted military action in and around Nagorno-Karabakh, an enclave internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but populated by ethnic Armenians.

Pashinyan said he had no choice but to sign the agreement to prevent further territorial losses. He said the situation was a “catastrophe.”

On Saturday, Armenian authorities said they had foiled an attempt on the prime minister’s life.

Armenia says it thwarted assassination attempt on PM Pashinyan

Armenia’s National Security Service (NSS) says it has foiled an attempt by former officials to assassinate the country’s prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, and to seize power following the recent ceasefire deal with Azerbaijan Republic.

“Today I clearly stated that violence or the provoking of violence (especially armed violence) cannot in any way be a means of action for the government,” the Armenian prime minister said on Facebook.

Pashinyan also underlined that he expected the opposition to declare that it did not back “any violent action.”

Following the report on the assassination attempt, Armenia’s National Security Service (NSS) arrested opposition leader Artur Vanetsyan, the former head of the country’s security services.

Vanetsyan, leader of the center-right ‘Homeland’ party, was released on Sunday after a court ruled that his detention lacked legal grounds.

Moreover, a dozen opposition leaders that had been taken into custody for organizing anti-government protests were also released.

In 1992, the Armenian separatists, backed by the government in Yerevan, broke from Azerbaijan in a war that killed some 30,000 people.

The conflict re-erupted in late September, becoming the worst fighting in the region in decades.

The Moscow-brokered peace deal was announced by the Armenian premier last week.

The weeks of heavy fighting left at least 2,400 people dead and displaced tens of thousands.