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 David Vardanyan is the son of former Karabakh leader Ruben Vardanyan who who is currently imprisoned in Azerbaijan. 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. Partner news | Ucom General Director gives lecture at French University in Armenia The General Director of Ucom Ralph Yirikian delivered a lecture at the French University of Armenia. Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. Aliyev says no need for mediators in Armenia-Azerbaijan process Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev believes that Baku and Yerevan do not mediators in the process of normalizing relations. |