Both Armenian Catholicoi urge Pashinyan to step down

PanARMENIAN.Net - Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II and Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia Aram I have urged Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to resign, amid public outrage over a statement on Nagorno-Karabakh, under which the Armenian side ceded significant chunks of territory to Azerbaijan.

Karekin II said in a speech Tuesday, December 8 that he met Pashinyan "ahead of alarming developments" taking place in the country and urged him to step down to prevent "disruptions in public life, possible clashes and their tragic consequences."

"We call on the National Assembly to be responsible at this crucial moment, to heed the demands of the public, to elect a new Prime Minister and to form an interim government of national accord," the Catholicos of All Armenians said.

Also Tuesday, Aram I said in a televised speech that the Armenian nation has plunged into "a state of uncertainty and despair due to the mentality of being defeated" and is now bereft of its "national dignity and pride". He urged Pashinyan to leave office and pave the way for the formation of a new government and snap parliamentary elections.

Pashinyan, Russian and Azerbaijani Presidents Vladimir Putin and Ilham Aliyev on November 9 signed a statement to end the war in Karabakh after almost 45 days. Under the deal, the Armenian side is returning all the seven regions surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh, having lost a part of Karabakh itself in hostilities.