Onik Gasparyan to stay chief of Army Staff before top court clarificationMarch 3, 2021 - 12:38 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Colonel-General Onik Gasparyan will hold his post as the chief of Army General Staff until an application filed by the President of Armenia is being processed by the Constitutional Court within eight days, the General Staff said in a statement on Wednesday, March 3. Armenia is facing a serious political crisis after the country's top military brass demanded Pashinyan's resignation. The PM, claimed, however, that he had already dismissed the chief of the Army General Staff. On March 2, President Armen Sarkissian decided to not sign a draft decree on Gasparyan's dismissal, but file an application with the Constitutional Court to determine whether the law "On Military Service and Status of Military Servant" from November 15, 2017 complies with the Armenian Constitution. As long as the top court is reviewing the matter, Gasparyan will continue his role as the Supreme Military Commander of the Armenian Armed Forces, the General Staff said. Top stories The number of state universities will be reduced from 23 to 8 by 2030, Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Zhanna Andreasyan has said. From September 21 to November 11, a total of 2,820 Russians registered at a place of residence in Armenia, the police has said. The situation on the contact line between Karabakh and Azerbaijan was relatively stable overnight, the Defense Army says. Defense Minister Suren Papikyan has visited the southern Armenian province of Syunik, the Defense Ministry reported on March 18. Partner news | Armenia to participate in key EU meeting for the first time ever National Assembly speaker Alen Simonyan has said that Armenia will for the first time participate in the Conference. U.S. reacts to Russia’s criticism of upcoming Armenia-EU-U.S. meeting Matthew Miller has weighed in on Russia’s criticism of an upcoming Armenia-EU-U.S. meeting. Lavrov sees ‘collapse’ of Russia’s ties with Armenia Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has underscored heightened tensions between Russia and Armenia. Russia clarifying reports on Baku’s alleged arms supply to Ukraine Russia says is carefully working to verify reports about alleged arms supplies from Azerbaijan to Ukraine |