Yerevan (Armenia), March 10: Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced that General Staff Chief Onik Gasparyan is considered dismissed starting from March 10.
"Taking into account the fact that the president of the Republic did not sign the draft decree that was submitted by the prime minister within the timeframe established by the law 'On military service and the status of servicemen' and did not appeal to the Constitutional Court, .... the chief of the general staff of Armenia's armed forces, Onik Gasparyan, is relieved from office starting from March 10 by the force of law", Pashinyan said in a statement, released by the cabinet.
Armenian President Armen Sarkissian refused to sign a decree on Gasparyan's dismissal and did not submit the draft document to the Constitutional Court, which implied automatic dismissal of the military chief.
A political crisis erupted in Yerevan after the deputy chief of the general staff mocked Pashinyan's controversial comment about the alleged failure of Russian-supplied Iskander missiles during the latest escalation of the decades-long conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. This triggered a series of military dismissals. The armed forces issued a statement demanding the resignation of Pashinyan himself, the prime minister regarded this as an attempted coup and called on his supporters to take to the streets.
Source: Sputnik