[ad_1]
Armenia’s international minister submitted his resignation Monday amid political turmoil that has engulfed the nation following a cease-fire deal for the separatist area of Nagorno-Karabakh that requires ceding territory to longtime adversary Azerbaijan.
The Moscow-brokered truce halted the combating that killed tons of, presumably hundreds, in six weeks, however stipulated that Armenia flip over management of some areas its holds exterior Nagorno-Karabakh’s borders to Azerbaijan.
Nagorno-Karabakh lies inside Azerbaijan however has been beneath the management of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since a separatist struggle there resulted in 1994. That struggle left not solely Nagorno-Karabakh itself however substantial surrounding territory in Armenian arms.
The settlement was celebrated in Azerbaijan, however sparked mass protests in Armenia, with hundreds of individuals taking to the streets and demanding that the nation’s prime minister, Nikol Pashinian, step down and the deal is invalidated.
Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan’s resignation was introduced by his spokeswoman Monday. Anna Nagdhalyan posted his handwritten resignation letter on Facebook shortly after Pashinian stated in parliament he determined to dismiss him.
Earlier Monday, the ministry publicly disagreed with Pashinian over the course of Nagorno-Karabakh peace talks.
Pashinian stated throughout an internet information convention earlier Monday that there had been affords to cede Azerbaijani areas Armenia managed round Nagorno-Karabakh and town of Shusha, which is strategically situated close to the territory’s capital Stepanakert.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Naghdalyan shortly retorted on Facebook that giving up Shusha was by no means on the agenda “at any stage” of the peace negotiations.
The alternate and the following resignation of Mnatsakanyan, who has held the put up since May 2018, could point out that the political disaster in Armenia is deepening.
It comes as 17 opposition events and their supporters proceed to demand Pashinian’s ouster, with hundreds of individuals usually taking to the streets of Armenia’s capital. On Monday, crowds gathered in Yerevan for one more rally.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have been locked in a battle over Nagorno-Karabakh for many years. Heavy combating that flared up on Sept. 27 marked the most important escalation in over a quarter-century, killing tons of and presumably hundreds of individuals.
A Russian-brokered truce final week halted the violence after a number of failed makes an attempt to determine a long-lasting cease-fire. The settlement got here two days after Azerbaijan, which had made vital advances, introduced that it had seized Shusha.
Russian peacekeepers have began to deploy to the area a complete of 1,960 of them are to be despatched in beneath a five-year mandate. Russia’s Defense Ministry reported Monday that the peacekeepers accompanied round 1,200 individuals returning to Nagorno-Karabakh from Armenia since Saturday.
At the identical time, many ethnic Armenians have been leaving territories that might be handed over to Azerbaijan, with some setting their homes on hearth in a bitter farewell and digging up the graves of their kin to be able to rebury their stays in Armenia.
[ad_2]
Source hyperlink