Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (Germany)
The ceasefire agreement with Azerbaijan, which caused a lot of discontent in Armenia, was detained by opposition leader Artur Vanetsyan, who allegedly prepared a putsch and the murder of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. According to his lawyers, Vanetsyan was summoned to the headquarters of the national security agencies on Saturday and taken into custody. Lawyers called the arrest of the opposition leader and former head of the security services “persecution” of political opponents by the authorities and rejected allegations of an attempt to assassinate the head of government and seize power
In addition, the Armenian security services also announced the detention of another suspect who is “hostile” to the country’s leadership. He was found to have a large Arsenal of weapons. This man allegedly conspired with” anti-government politicians and their supporters “and planned”an attempt on a well-known person in order to seize power.”
Also on Sunday, ten opposition politicians were detained, who called on citizens to overthrow Pashinyan. The charge is: “organization of mass riots”.
Pashinyan does not want to leave his post
On Tuesday, Armenia and Azerbaijan, mediated by Russia, agreed to a truce in Nagorno-Karabakh after six weeks of fighting. The agreement stipulates that Baku can retain control over the recaptured territories, which, according to international law, belong to Azerbaijan.
In addition, Armenia has actually lost other regions adjacent to Nagorno-Karabakh, which Azerbaijan has not yet managed to recapture. About 2 thousand Russian military personnel will monitor compliance with the armistice agreement.
In Armenia, the agreement caused a wave of indignation, and for several days in a row, residents have been protesting against Pashinyan, who is called a “traitor”. Last week, several thousand people demanded his resignation, and the response to the ultimatum from the opposition, he is already overdue.
Azerbaijan, for its part, agreed to give Armenia additional time to withdraw its troops from the regions bordering Karabakh. Initially, they should have been withdrawn by Sunday, but now the deadline has been moved to November 25, a representative of the presidential administration in Baku said. The Armenian side justified its request by saying that only one road can be used for the withdrawal of troops. Previously, it was said that Armenians were leaving their homes in anticipation of the appearance of Azerbaijani troops. Some allegedly set them on fire as they left.
The Russian foreign Ministry said that about 200 people have already returned to the capital of Nagorno-Karabakh, Stepanakert, after the end of hostilities.