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Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is under pressure
Photo: Kay Nietfeld / dpa
In the view of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, the step "does nothing at all to resolve the situation": Armenia's President Armen Sarkisjan has refused Pashinyan's request to dismiss the Army Chief of State.
"The President of the Republic has returned the draft decree with objections within the scope of his constitutional powers," said the President's office on Saturday.
The political crisis "cannot be resolved through frequent personnel changes."
Pashinyan now wants to send the application to Sarkisjan again.
Leading Armenian military officials called for Prime Minister Pashinyan to resign after the lost war against Azerbaijan.
He then spoke of a
"
coup attempt" and announced the dismissal of the head of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, Onik Gasparjan.
The country has been in turmoil since a Moscow-brokered peace agreement was signed with neighboring Azerbaijan in November.
The agreement between the hostile neighboring states ended the heavy fighting in the Caucasus region of Nagorno-Karabakh, but resulted in significant territorial losses for Armenia.
According to both sides, around 6,000 people were killed during the fighting.
Thousands of demonstrators are calling for Pashinyan to resign
On Saturday, for the third day in a row, thousands of opposition supporters demonstrated in front of the parliament in Armenia's capital, Yerevan.
The AFP news agency reported 5,000 demonstrators, and according to the Associated Press there were 15,000.
The people demanded the resignation of Pashinyan.
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fek / AFP / Reuters