Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Armenians Protest Nagorno-Karabakh Truce Terms for a 3rd Day
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 4 years ago on
November 12, 2020

Share

YEREVAN, Armenia — Thousands massed Thursday in Armenia’s capital to protest the terms of a cease-fire agreement that gave territorial concessions to Azerbaijan in the long-running conflict over the separatist territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The rally marked the third straight day of demonstrations triggered by the truce to halt more than six weeks of deadly fighting between the two ex-Soviet nations. Nagorno-Karabakh lies within Azerbaijan but has been under control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since a separatist war there ended in 1994.

The Moscow-brokered agreement calls for Armenia to turn over control of some areas its holds outside Nagorno-Karabakh’s borders to Azerbaijan.

It prompted celebrations in Baku, but angered Armenians, and many took to the streets soon after it was announced early Tuesday. Protesters stormed government buildings and demanded that the pact be invalidated.

At a large rally Wednesday, Armenian opposition parties and their supporters demanded that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian resign, calling the agreement he signed “treacherous” and “humiliating.”

Late in the evening, lawmakers called an emergency session of parliament to consider Pashinian’s dismissal but didn’t have a quorum to follow through with it. Pashinian’s faction holds 88 of 132 seats in parliament, and its members didn’t show up.

Armenian authorities said Thursday they detained 10 opposition politicians on charges of fomenting mass unrest. Naira Zograbyan, a member of the Prosperous Armenia opposition party, said at Thursday’s rally that those detained were political prisoners and expressed concern about further crackdowns on the opposition.

Crowds of people marched through the center of Yerevan and denounced Pashinian, chanting “Nikol, go away!” and “Nikol the traitor!” Over 60 people were detained, Russia’s state news agency RIA Novosti reported.

Several Cease-Fires in the Past Six Weeks Failed to Halt the Violence

Armenia and Azerbaijan have been locked in a conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh for decades. Heavy fighting that flared up on Sept. 27 marked the biggest escalation in over a quarter-century, killing hundreds and possibly thousands of people.

Several cease-fires in the past six weeks failed to halt the violence, but the current agreement appeared to be holding, with neither side reporting any more fighting since it came into force.

The truce came days after Azerbaijan pushed deeper into Nagorno-Karabakh and took control of the city of Shushi, strategically positioned on heights overlooking the regional capital of Stepanakert.

While Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev called the agreement a “glorious victory,” Pashinian insisted in a series of video statements that he had no other choice. On Thursday, he said he signed the pact after the military reported that “the war urgently needs to be stopped,” and the separatist leader of Nagorno-Karabakh told him that “we could lose Stepanakert in a matter of hours.”

Under the agreement, Russia began to deploy peacekeepers to the region — a total of 1,960 of them are to move in under a five-year mandate.

Turkey, which threw its weight behind Azerbaijan in the conflict and sought to play a more prominent role in the peace process, will be involved in monitoring the cease-fire.

Russian and Turkish defense ministers signed a memorandum Wednesday to create a joint monitoring center in Azerbaijan — a move announced earlier this week by Aliyev.

At the same time Russian officials underscored that Ankara’s involvement will be limited to the work of the center on Azerbaijani soil, and Turkish peacekeepers will not go to Nagorno-Karabakh.

“The center will operate remotely, using technical means of control, including drones, to determine the situation on the ground in Karabakh and determine which side is observing and which is violating the cease-fire,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.

DON'T MISS

Pope Francis in Critical Condition After Long Respiratory Crisis

DON'T MISS

Musk Gives All Federal Workers 48 Hours to Explain What They Did Last Week

DON'T MISS

Fresno State Suspends 2 Players, Removes Another Amid Gambling Investigation

DON'T MISS

Israel Delays Release of Palestinian Prisoners, Citing ‘Degrading’ Hostage Handovers

DON'T MISS

Officer Killed After Gunman Took Hostages at Pennsylvania Hospital

DON'T MISS

Kash Patel Plans to Move Up to 1,500 Workers Out of Washington

DON'T MISS

Fired Employees Fear Beloved Yosemite National Park Will Lose Its Luster

DON'T MISS

US and Ukraine Nearing Rare Earths Deal That Would Tighten Relationship

DON'T MISS

Trump Fires Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Two Other Military Officers

DON'T MISS

Less Is More: 5 Ingredient Dinners Are Easier Than You Think

UP NEXT

US and Ukraine Nearing Rare Earths Deal That Would Tighten Relationship

UP NEXT

Voletta Wallace, Notorious B.I.G.’s Mother and Keeper of His Legacy, Dies at 78

UP NEXT

Bullard Teacher Arrested for Inappropriate Behavior With a Minor, Principal Says

UP NEXT

Nearly 1 in 10 U.S. Adults Identifies as LGBTQ+, Survey Finds

UP NEXT

Europe’s Leaders, Dazed by an Ally Acting Like an Adversary, Recalculate

UP NEXT

Arctic Blast Causes Massive Pileups, Power Outages Across East Coast

UP NEXT

EU Official Meets With Trump Counterparts to Resolve Tariff Threats

UP NEXT

Struggling Forever 21 Plans to Close 200 Stores in Possible 2nd Bankruptcy

UP NEXT

2 People Are Dead in a Small Plane Collision at a Southern Arizona Airport

UP NEXT

Official White House Account Declares Trump ‘King’ in Latest Post

Israel Delays Release of Palestinian Prisoners, Citing ‘Degrading’ Hostage Handovers

7 hours ago

Officer Killed After Gunman Took Hostages at Pennsylvania Hospital

7 hours ago

Kash Patel Plans to Move Up to 1,500 Workers Out of Washington

14 hours ago

Fired Employees Fear Beloved Yosemite National Park Will Lose Its Luster

14 hours ago

US and Ukraine Nearing Rare Earths Deal That Would Tighten Relationship

14 hours ago

Trump Fires Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Two Other Military Officers

14 hours ago

Less Is More: 5 Ingredient Dinners Are Easier Than You Think

14 hours ago

Trump-Putin Summit Preparations Are Underway, Russia Says

14 hours ago

Warren Buffett Offers Trump Some Advice While Celebrating Berkshire’s Success

14 hours ago

Hungarians Will Decide Whether Ukraine Can Join the European Union, Orbán Says

14 hours ago

Pope Francis in Critical Condition After Long Respiratory Crisis

ROME — Pope Francis was in critical condition Saturday after he suffered a prolonged asthmatic respiratory crisis while being treated for pn...

7 hours ago

7 hours ago

Pope Francis in Critical Condition After Long Respiratory Crisis

7 hours ago

Musk Gives All Federal Workers 48 Hours to Explain What They Did Last Week

7 hours ago

Fresno State Suspends 2 Players, Removes Another Amid Gambling Investigation

7 hours ago

Israel Delays Release of Palestinian Prisoners, Citing ‘Degrading’ Hostage Handovers

7 hours ago

Officer Killed After Gunman Took Hostages at Pennsylvania Hospital

14 hours ago

Kash Patel Plans to Move Up to 1,500 Workers Out of Washington

14 hours ago

Fired Employees Fear Beloved Yosemite National Park Will Lose Its Luster

14 hours ago

US and Ukraine Nearing Rare Earths Deal That Would Tighten Relationship

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend