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Live updates: Armenian President calls on Pashinyan to resign

17 November 2020
Armen Sarkissian. Still from video.

Armenia has been struck by political unrest since the peace deal to end the war in Nagorno-Karabakh was agreed on between Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Russia.

According to the deal, Armenia will hand control of several territories to Azerbaijan but the final status of Nagorno-Karabakh is undefined. Russian peacekeepers have already entered Nagorno Karabakh to oversee the deal.

Read all of our coverage of the war including our Voices for Peace series.

Latest stories: 

 For ease of reading, we choose not to use qualifiers such as ‘de facto’, ‘unrecognised’, or ‘partially recognised’ when discussing institutions or political positions within Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh, and South Ossetia. This does not imply a position on their status.

17 Nov 2020, 22:31

Putin: Pashinyan rejected a peace deal accepted by Azerbaijan on 19-20 October

In an interview with Russia 24 Vladimir Putin said that he had managed to convince Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to ‘end military actions’ during discussions on 19 and 20 October, but Armenia turned the offer down.  

‘I managed to convince Aliyev that it's possible to end military actions, but a mandatory condition on his side was the return of refugees, including to the city of Shusha. To my surprise, the position of our Armenian partners was formulated in such a way that this was unacceptable to them. (Armenian Prime Minister) Pashinyan told me directly, that he saw in this a direct threat to the interests of Armenia and Karabakh’, the Russian President said. 

‘Now, I can’t really understand what this threat was supposed to be, considering that this would presume the return of peaceful civilians, with the maintenance of control by the Armenian side over this part of the territory in Karabakh, including Shusha, along with the presence of our peacekeepers, which we were already discussing with Armenia and Azerbaijan.’ 

17 Nov 2020, 17:39

Former Armenia Ministry of Defence spokesperson Artsrun Hovhannisyan ‘attacked’

Artsrun Hovhannisyan, who served as a spokesperson for Armenia’s Ministry of Defence prior to and during the fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh has reported that he was ‘attacked by two people’ yesterday. 

‘Since 9 November I have received various threats, but I did not pay attention to anything. I do not even respond to calls for explicit revenge. I refused to file a complaint against these people to the police’, he said. 

‘Last night I was attacked by two people, fortunately, I was able to protect myself, I am not afraid of anyone, I do not consider anyone an enemy. However, since the calls and threats of revenge continue today, I have to go to the police.’

17 Nov 2020, 16:36

Nagorno-Karabakh President outlines assistance package for residents

Nagorno-Karabakh President Arayik Harutyunyan has announced that all utilities and communication (including landline, internet, and mobile) services will be free of charge for the residents of Nagorno-Karabakh for a one-year period. 

While families who have a monthly income of less than ֏60 thousand ($120) will be provided with further ‘appropriate financial assistance’. 

Those residents of Nagorno-Karabakh who have lost their homes will receive a one-time lump sum of ֏300 thousand ($600) per person. While the authorities have promised to ‘solve’ the question of housing for these residents ‘in a few years’, in a meanwhile these residents will also continue to receive financial assistance in the form of rent compensation. 

17 Nov 2020, 13:44

Ilham Aliyev: New road to be built from Fuzuli to Shusha, ‘no discussion’ on Nagorno-Karabakh status

Azerbaijan has already begun to construct a road connecting Fuzuli to the city of Shusha (Shushi), President Ilham Aliyev said in an address to the nation today. For the moment, the main roads connecting to Shushi are under Armenian control. 

Aliyev also commented on the question of Nagorno-Karabakh’s status, saying that ‘there can be no discussion of any special status’. 

‘There is a single Azerbaijan - multinational and multi-confessional’, the Azerbaijani President said. Before the war, Aliyev had promised ‘cultural autonomy’ to Nagorno-Karabakh, though he did not specify exactly what he meant by that. 

17 Nov 2020, 13:27

Ilham Aliyev receives rapturous greeting in Fuzuli

President Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva visited the Fuzuli and Jabrayil districts. In Fuzuli, yesterday, the president was thronged with cheering supporters and together with the crowd he chanted ‘Karabakh’, ‘Karabakh’, ‘Karabakh’. 

17 Nov 2020, 11:53

Armenian Parliament discuss Pashinyan’s resignation

In parliament today, opposition parties have called for the Prime Minister to step down. Members of the ruling My Step bloc have said that the due to the important processes and discussions taking place at the moment, this is not the time for Nikol Pashinyan’s resignation or for early elections. 

17 Nov 2020, 10:53

Armenian President calls on government to resign

In an address given late last night, Armenian President Armen Sarkissian called on Nikol Pashinyan and his administration to ‘present a roadmap in a short period of time, which will provide deadlines for initiating relevant constitutional processes, which will lead to early parliamentary elections’. 

In the interim, he said, power should be handed to ‘a highly qualified government of National Accord’.