ArmInfo. Obviously, the army must be torn away from the circle of conspirators. The armed forces must be kept within the framework of the Constitution and laws, completely excluding even the prospect of involving the army in politics. The Chairman of the Public Council of Armenia Stepan Safaryan expressed a similar opinion to ArmInfo.
On February 25, the General Staff of the Armenian Armed Forces demanded the resignation of the Armenian Prime Minister, accusing the country's political leadership of "leading the state to a dangerous brink." The demand was announced after the dismissal of the first deputy chief of the General Staff, Lieutenant General Tiran Khachatryan.
"Obviously, in the case of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, the same technology was applied that had recently been applied to the Public Council. The same people, in particular, tried to raise our organization against the government. After which I was forced to explain to some of my colleagues that regardless of their attitude to the government, the discussion of the formation of power in the Public Council, a body that is prohibited from engaging in internal politics, is unacceptable. After the Public Council's official statement on the situation, this issue was finally closed, "he said.
Safaryan noted that 19 military officers from the General Staff of the Armed Forces issued a statement that obviously contradicts the Constitution and touched upon the formation of political power. The analyst is convinced that the army has no authority to form a government instead of the people. If there are people in the army who do not want to serve the current political power, they can resign. And the information they have about threats to the national security of the country, if there are such, of course, should be submitted to the Security Council.
According to Safaryan's estimates, the statement of the officers of the General Staff was of an unprecedented nature and was aimed at bringing what was begun by the hands of 19 military leaders to the second actor of this action - the people. The action, the purpose of which is to transform the army into one of the internal political poles, to separate society from the army and to link the military to 17, in his opinion, is apparently an attempt at a military coup.
Safaryan considers the situation in which 19 military personnel of the General Staff of the Armed Forces for 5 days have actually been outside the framework of the Constitution, unacceptable. The analyst sees the search for a way out of the current internal political situation in timely flexible and in no way abrupt and tough actions. He sees a solution to the problem of 19 military men only within the framework of the law, not excluding in some cases their immediate resignation.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan described the situation as an attempted coup, urging citizens to gather in Republic Square and defend the revolution. Pashinyan signed a decision on the resignation of Chief of the General Staff Onik Gasparyan, which the president has not yet signed. After that, a rally in support of Pashinyan took place on Republic Square. In parallel, a rally of opponents of the current government took place on Freedom Square. Similarly, practically at the same time, the authorities and the opposition will hold rallies today - March 1.