Rally near Armenia Defense Ministry HQ supports top military brassMarch 6, 2021 - 16:59 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - A considerable number of servicemen and civilians rallied on Saturday, March 6 in front of the Defense Ministry headquarters in Yerevan to support Chief of Army General Staff Onik Gasparyan, Para.tv reports. Armenia is facing a serious political crisis after the country's top military brass demanded Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's resignation. The PM, claimed, however, that he had already dismissed the chief of the Army General Staff. On March 2, President Sarkissian decided to not sign the 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. The General Staff said Wednesday Gasparyan will hold his post until the application filed by the President is being processed by the Constitutional Court within eight days. A clergyman attending the rally on Saturday blessed the demonstrators, after which a moment of silence was held to honor the memory of the victims of the 44-day war in Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh). The protesters then headed towards the residence of the President of Armenia, Armen Sarkissian and demanded a meeting with him. Also participating in the rally was the Chairman of the Chamber of Lawyers, Ara Zohrabyan, who said that should the president try to avoid meeting them, the protesters will try to march to his place of residence. The coalition of 17 opposition parties dubbed the Homeland Salvation Movement is rallying in the center of Yerevan too to demand Pashinyan's resignation. 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 | 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 Russia warns Armenia against “falling into West’s trap” Zakharova maintained, however, that anything that will benefit the people of Armenia can only be welcomed. CSTO: Armenia has not participated in secretariat’s work recently Recently Armenia has not participated in the work of the secretariat of the CSTO, Imangali Tasmagambetov said. Meeting with U.S., EU not against third parties, says Armenia The meeting scheduled for April 5 is dedicated to strengthening of the Armenia-EU-US cooperation, Yerevan added. |