Crisis in Armenia Coming to End

The statement signed on February 25 by Chief of the General Staff Onik Gasparyan, all his deputies, heads of departments and commanders of all large military formations, says that the General Staff expresses its strong protest against short-sighted and unreasonable steps, in particular, the dismissal of the first deputy chief of the General Staff.

“The General Staff of the RA Armed Forces expresses its strong protest in connection with the dismissal of the First Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the RA Armed Forces for short-sighted and unreasonable reasons, which was carried out without taking into account the national and state interests of the Republic of Armenia, based only on personal and ambitious feelings.

From now on, the Prime Minister and the Government of Armenia are unable to make adequate decisions in this crisis and fateful situation for the Armenian people.

For a long time, the Armed Forces of Armenia have patiently endured "attacks" aimed at discrediting the Armed Forces by the current government, but everything has its limits.

The armed forces of Armenia honorably fulfilled their duty, fought shoulder to shoulder with their people against the enemy.

In connection with the current situation, the armed forces of Armenia demand the resignation of the Prime Minister and the Government of the Republic of Armenia, at the same time warning to refrain from using force against the people, whose children died defending the Motherland and "Artsakh".

The army has always been with the people, as well as the people with the army,” the statement reads.

The demand for Pashinyan's resignation was signed by more than 40 high-ranking military personnel.

Against the backdrop of regular opposition protests in Yerevan, this can mean one thing - if the police try to use force, the army will enter Yerevan.

Obviously, the military protest was a reaction to the news that the administration of Armenian President Armen Sarkissian received a decree of the Prime Minister on the dismissal of the Chief of the General Staff of the Armenian Armed Forces Onik Gasparyan. For the document to enter into force, the signature of President Armen Sargsyan is required, but he has not yet announced his decision.

Earlier, Armen Sargsyan signed a decree dismissing the first deputy chief of the General Staff of the Armenian Armed Forces Tigran Khachatryan. And according to the opposition, this is due to the fact that he earlier questioned Pashinyan's statement about the alleged ineffectiveness of the Iskander OTMS (operational-tactical missile systems).

I must say that the conflict between the military and the prime minister has been brewing for a long time. This is evidenced at least by the fact that on November 19 last year, the head of the military control service of the Ministry of Defense of Armenia, Colonel-General Movses Hakobyan held a press conference at which he accused the leadership of the country and the army of lying and gross mistakes in mobilization and military purchases, strategy and tactics, and also talked about desertion and problems with conscription.

In addition, Hakobyan said that during the hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh, the Armenian side used the Iskander operational-tactical missile system. Iskander was used during the war. But I can't say where,” Hakobyan told reporters.

Hakobyan also spoke about the conflict with the wife of Prime Minister Pashinyan Anna Hakobyan and the subsequent ban for the general to enter Karabakh. The wife of the prime minister, without permission, came to the command center in Karabakh where, of course, unauthorized entry was strictly prohibited. Seeing Anna Hakobyan in the command center, the general demanded that she leave him.

Pashinyan did not add authority in the eyes of the military to his last interview with the 1in.am Armenia news site). Commenting on the statement of ex-President Serzh Sargsyan that the Armenian side could use Iskander on the fourth day of the war, Pashinyan replied: “I think he should have answers to many questions and not ask questions, the answers to which he knows. Or maybe he will answer why the fired Iskander missiles didn’t explode or only exploded by 10%.”

Thus, Pashinyan, first, confirmed General Hakobyan's message about the use of the Iskander operational-tactical missile system during the war in Nagorno-Karabakh. As you know, the General Prosecutor's Office of Armenia opened a criminal case against Movses Hakobyan in this connection on charges of disclosing state secrets. Now, this very "state secret" is being revealed by the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Armenia!

And most importantly, with this confession, Pashinyan actually confirmed that he personally bears responsibility for shelling residential areas of Azerbaijani cities with Iskander-class missiles, which is a war crime. And if only Iskanders were really delivered to Armenia, then it bears responsibility. It is still unclear whether the Iskanders are in service with Armenia or whether they are weapons from a Russian military base.

The question arises - if the Iskanders are not in service with Armenia, then who launched them across Azerbaijan? Who sanctioned the strike against Azerbaijan? Did Moscow do this? But it is doubtful.

Does it turn out that the Armenian Prime Minister is a chatterbox who throws words to the wind?

Returning to the crisis with the military, it should be noted that it could have been caused not only by the resignations in the General Staff. After all, it was not today that the forthcoming reforms became known. The "riot on the ship" occurred two days after Pashinyan's statement about the ineffectiveness of the Russian Iskander. Therefore, it is possible that the uprising of the military is a kind of Moscow's response to the Armenian Prime Minister, who questioned the effectiveness of the Iskander and damaged the business reputation of the Russian military-industrial complex.

After all, if we take on faith the statements of Pashinyan and Hakobyan, it turns out that Iskander missiles were fired at the territory of Azerbaijan, but these missile launches were not successful - either the launched missiles did not explode or could not overcome the air defense system. And against the background of the fact that during the hostilities in Syria, Libya, and now also in Karabakh, Russian Pantsirs (anti-aircraft missile-cannon systems) and Tors (anti-aircraft missile systems), as well as Krasukhas ( electronic warfare systems) easily became victims of drones and it turns out that the production of the Russian military-industrial complex is rubbish. Obviously, such anti-advertising could not but cause extreme irritation in Moscow.

The statement of the Armenian Prime Minister was considered provocative and aimed at discrediting Russian weapons and a strategic ally in general. And if we take into account the extremely negative attitude of the generals to the upcoming reforms in the Armed Forces of Armenia, as well as their traditionally close ties with the Ministry of Defense and the military-industrial complex of Russia, then we can most likely assume that they were given the go-ahead from the Kremlin to start a opposition. By the way, the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Armenian Parliament on Defense and Security Issues Andranik Kocharian stated yesterday that the demand of the General Staff is connected with the forthcoming reforms in the army.

Moscow does not need reforms either - after all, it is quite obvious that the matter will end with Pashinyan getting rid of the pro-Moscow cadres.

The fact that Moscow provokes the military is confirmed by its reaction to the events in Yerevan.

"The Kremlin is watching with concern the development of the situation in Armenia, but it considers it exclusively an internal affair of the country," said the press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov.

It is significant that Ankara's reaction, which survived the military coup attempt in 2015, was quite the opposite. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu condemned the events in Armenia, calling them an attempt at a coup d'etat. He called it unacceptable for the military to call for the resignation of a democratically elected leader.

“We oppose any coup d'état or attempted coup d'état, no matter where it happens in the world. We strongly condemn the attempted coup d'etat in Armenia,” the Turkish Foreign Minister said.

Meanwhile, Pashinyan's opponents, as part of daily actions of disobedience, blocked road traffic in the center of Yerevan from the very morning. In particular, groups of young people gathered on the roadway of Azatutyan Avenue and Saralanji and Verin Antarain Streets, chanting "Armenia without Nikol", "Nikol is a traitor." They demand the resignation of Pashinyan and his team.

The "opposition" to the current leadership of Armenia, the former corrupted elite of Armenia, acts under the pretentious name "National Movement for the Salvation of the Motherland" (it unites 17 parties). Its motives are obvious - to return to the trough.

There are suspiciously many “former” leaders among the leaders of the movement. These are ex-prime minister and ex-minister of defense Vazgen Manukyan, former director of the National Security Service (NSS), chairman of the Motherland party of Armenia Arthur Vanetsyan, chairman of the Republican Party of Armenia, ex-president and ex-prime minister Serzh Sargsyan. The Republican Party of Armenia adopted the teachings of the Nazi Garegin Nzhdeh - tsekhakronism), etc.

Earlier, they opposed the Statement of November 10 signed by the leaders of Azerbaijan, Russia and Armenia. However, later they realized that denunciation of the Statement was unrealistic, that they needed support not only from within, but also from without, and they refused to denounce it. However, they are still hatching plans to torpedo the January 11 Moscow agreement on Karabakh, aimed at solving economic and transport infrastructure problems in the region.

Pashinyan promptly responded to the statement of the General Staff. He immediately appealed to his supporters on Facebook with an appeal to appear on Republic Square and called the General Staff's statement an attempted military coup.

In the afternoon, at about 14:00 (earlier than planned), he went to Republic Square to his supporters. Addressing them, Pashinyan called the General Staff's statement an attempt to stage a military coup, adding that the process is already under control, the armed forces are subordinate to the people and the head of government.

“I think the military’s statement was an emotional reaction, the situation is manageable. The situation is tense, we need to come to an agreement in order to avoid clashes,” he concluded.

Then Pashinyan led a march of his supporters. Upon completion of this action, he announced its termination and suggested that the opposition also stop its action. Addressing his opponents, the prime minister invited them to discuss further actions.

But the opposition, inspired by the military’s speech, does not think to disperse - the protesters blocked Marshal Baghramyan Avenue, on which the Prime Minister’s residence and the parliament building are located, and promise to stay there until the Prime Minister’s resignation.

The protesters began to set up tents in the square in front of the parliament. They refuse to engage in dialogue about anything other than the government's resignation.

Opposition leaders have also formed a delegation to meet with the president of the country and are demanding parliament to convene an extraordinary meeting to press for early elections. They hope to win the elections and form a new Cabinet of Ministers.

But the majority in parliament belongs to the faction loyal to Pashinyan, and the deputies expressed support for the prime minister. Thus, Pashinyan's opponents will have to carry out a military coup in order to remove him from power.

If this scenario is implemented, then not a trace will remain of Armenia's democratic image. It will be difficult, almost impossible for it to get economic aid from the West, and thus, at least for a while, it will stop. In a pandemic, this will exacerbate the already difficult situation in Armenia.

If Pashinyan gains the upper hand, he will dismiss all generals who opposed him and begin reforming the army with the support of Russia.

“Armenia is starting to develop a concept for reforming the Armed Forces in cooperation with Russia,” Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on February 25.

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Appeal of the Chief of the General Staff of the Armenian Armed Forces Onik Gasparyan to the army on September 27, 2020

Brave fighters of the Armenian army, the time has come to show the courage of your spirit, the strength of your hand and boundless hatred towards the remnants of the nomadic and rootless cave tribe.

"Glorious generals, officers, sergeants, soldiers of the Armenian army, my comrades-in-arms! It is time to reaffirm the glory of the Armenian Armed Forces. Our freedom and independence, earned at the cost of thousands of lives and blood of the best Armenian sons, are again under threat.

Inspired by the multifaceted support of our longtime enemy Turkey, Azerbaijan did not come to terms with crushing defeats in hostilities in April 2016 in Artsakh and in July of this year in the northeast of the Republic of Armenia, unleashing a war again. At present, air and artillery shelling is carried out along the entire perimeter of the contact line of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic Defense Army, and in parallel, settlements are being shelled.

The units of the Defense Army successfully thwart the enemy's plans, inflicting significant losses on him.

My associates, I urge you to continue to fulfill with honor the sacred mission of the Defender of the Fatherland, relying on the strength of your strong hand, ignoring danger and the enemy, fighting with unwavering devotion and self-sacrifice.

Brave fighters of the Armenian army, the time has come to show the courage of your spirit, the strength of your hand and boundless hatred towards the remnants of the nomadic and rootless cave tribe.

You are soldiers of an army that has achieved glorious victories. We will be worthy of the glory of the Armenian name and weapons.

We are for a just cause; we defend the sacred land of our ancestors, the Armenian home, our honor and the right of our people to live in peace in a free country."