The Armenian prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, has accused the armed forces of an attempted coup against his government after top military officers signed a letter calling him to resign.
Tensions between Pashinyan and the military erupted into open conflict on Thursday as the chief of the armed forces general staff, Onik Gasparyan, and other senior commanders accused the prime minister of bringing Armenia to “the brink of collapse”.
In response, Pashinyan dismissed Gasparyan and called his own supporters to rally in Yerevan’s Republic Square, the site of the popular revolution that brought him to power three years ago. A video broadcast showed Pashinyan in a suit arriving at the square on Thursday and addressing his supporters through a bullhorn, with counter-protesters also present.