Armenia’s PM has called it a disaster but said he had no choice but to sign it to stave off a defeat.
Thousands of Armenian demonstrators, chanting „Nikol is a traitor“, demanded Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan resign on Wednesday over a ceasefire that secured territorial advances for Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh after six weeks of fighting. Several hundred then marched on parliament in the capital Yerevan but were blocked by police and stood outside shouting: „Nikol, leave“. Witnesses said there were a number of arrests but no immediate reports of serious clashes. The ceasefire, announced on Tuesday, ended the worst fighting in the region in decades and has been celebrated as a victory in Azerbaijan. Pashinyan has called it a disaster but said he had no choice but to sign it to stave off a defeat. Demonstrators defied a martial law ban on street rallies to protest against Pashinyan, a day after protesters stormed and ransacked some government buildings. Some wore protective masks because of the coronavirus pandemic that has hit Armenia hard. The ceasefire halted military action in and around Nagorno-Karabakh, an enclave internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan but populated by ethnic Armenians.
