Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Saturday took the lead of a mourning procession in memory of those killed in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
YEREVAN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th December, 2020) Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Saturday took the lead of a mourning procession in memory of those killed in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
The procession began from the Republic Square and ended at the Yerablur Military Memorial Cemetery.
Veterans of the conflict gathered at the gates of Yerablur and declared that they would not allow Pashinyan to enter the cemetery, a Sputnik correspondent from the scene reported.
Later in the day, protesters demanding the prime minister's resignation marched to the Saint Gregory The Illuminator Cathedral in downtown Yerevan, where a requiem mass had already begun.
The protest rally was attended by thousands of people, representatives of opposition parties, clergy and relatives of the martyrs.
"We must remove Pashinyan from power in order to save our homeland," the rally organizer and member of the supreme body of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaktsutyun political party, Ishkhan Saghatelyan, said.
Saghatelyan accused the prime minister of using the Saturday mourning service in his own political interests, as he entered the Yerablur Military Memorial Cemetery in spite of the veterans' protests.
The official added that the opposition was planning to stage a general strike and hold nationwide protests on Tuesday.
Last month, Pashinyan signed a ceasefire agreement with Azerbaijan, brokered by Russia, which to Armenians amounted to a capitulation. Opposition political forces have called for his resignation since, but the Pashinyan has refused to step down.
