March 12, 2021 - 18:26 AMT
Armenia Foreign Minister plays down "coup attempt" claims

Armenian Foreign Minister Ara Aivazian has said he disagrees with the description of the political situation in the country as "an attempted coup d'etat."

In an interview Al Arabiya news agency, Aivazian instead described the demand of the country's top military brass for Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's resignation as "a kind of political positioning of some members of the General Stuff."

"They just made a political statement, which is not an attempted coup itself," Aivazian said, although Pashinyan had accused the Army Staff of attempting a coup.

"This was also the assessment of different countries and international organizations. There are no elements of a coup d'etat in Armenia. And Armenia continues to be a democracy and the current situation, as I said, will be dealt according to democratic standards in our society."

Armenia is facing a serious political crisis after the country's top military brass demanded Pashinyan's resignation. The PM, however claimed, however, that he had already dismissed the chief of the Army General Staff.