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A protester holds a hanging puppet during a demonstration of supporters of opposition Dashnaktsutyun party to demand the resignation of Armenia’s prime minister, at Freedom Square in central Yerevan, . (Photo by AFP)

Armenian protesters have taken to the streets in the capital, demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, whom they call a ‘traitor.’

The crowd in thousands demonstrated in Yerevan on Saturday.

Protesters want the 45-year-old leader to step down over what they describe as his mishandling of the 2020 conflict with Azerbaijan.

Karabakh war is over; Armenia agrees to withdraw forces from occupied lands
Yerevan has signed a Russia-brokered deal to end its conflict with Baku over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, committing itself to withdrawing all its forces from the occupied territories in a move that has outraged Armenians who consider it as “concession of defeat”.

Till now, Pashinyan has resisted mounting pressure to resign.

He approved a Russia-brokered deal to end Yerevan’s conflict with Baku over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, committing itself to the withdrawal of all its forces from the occupied territories in a move that has outraged Armenians who consider the deal as “concession of defeat.”

In the Russia-brokered deal, Pashinyan agreed to cede swathes of territory in and around Nagorno-Karabakh to end fighting.

Demonstrators on Saturday gathered at Freedom Square under a heavy police presence, chanting ‘Armenia without Nikol!’ and ‘Nikol traitor.’

“Our dream is a mighty, powerful homeland and the sole obstacle that hampers the achievement of this goal is Nikol Pashinyan,” said a leader of opposition Dashnaktsutyun party at the demonstration.

“We will not step back, we will get rid of Pashinyan,” Ishkhan Saghatelyan said.

In November, Armenia’s former Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan was forced to resign amid growing discontent across the South Caucasus nation.

Armenian-backed separatists in Nagorno-Karabakh declared independence from Azerbaijan after a war over the mountainous region that left tens of thousands dead in the 1990s.

However, in the recent fighting, which broke out in late September, Azerbaijani forces backed by Turkey gained the upper hand and retrieved large swathes of land. Ankara denied accusations of sending mercenaries to the conflict.

Russia, which is considered to be Armenia’s ally in this conflict, refused to take sides militarily and brokered the ceasefire deal, sending thousands of Russian peacekeeping troops to enforce it until the two warring sides are able to resolve the territorial dispute through diplomatic channels.