YEREVAN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st March, 2021) The Armenian Security Council on Monday called on President Armen Sarkissian to dismiss General Staff Chief Onik Gasparyan.
"The Security Council proposes that the President of Armenia satisfy the proposal of the Prime Minister [Nikol Pashinyan] and dismiss the Chief of the General Staff," the council's press office said.
This weekend, Pashinyan said he would submit another request to seek Gasparyan's dismissal, after the president turned down the draft decree on the general staff chief resignation, saying that the request contradicted the constitution.
A political crisis erupted in Yerevan after the deputy chief of the Armenian general staff mocked Pashinyan's controversial comment about the alleged failure of Russian-supplied Iskander missiles during the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. This triggered a series of military dismissals. The armed forces issued a statement demanding the resignation of Pashinyan himself, the prime minister regarded this as an attempted coup and called on his supporters to take to the streets. Meanwhile, the opposition activists set up a tent camp near the parliament and called on the prime minister to step down.