TENS of thousands took to the streets of the Armenian capital Yerevan on Saturday demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian as tensions flared up once more.

The rally was one of the largest seen since daily protests erupted at the beginning of the month after Mr Pashinian announced a peace deal with neighbouring Azerbaijan in parliament on April 14.

Armenians are angered over his handling of the unresolved Nagorno-Karabakh dispute. Critics accuse him of downgrading the status of the disputed Armenian-majority territory.

The Armenian Interior Ministry said that 206 demonstrators were detained in Yerevan and several provincial cities on May 3 when mass demonstrations ignited again.

Huge protests had been triggered in November 2020 after the PM signed a ceasefire deal that ceded large swathes of Armenian-held territory to Baku in what was seen as a national humiliation.

Now church leaders and high-ranking retired officials have been camped out in tents in the central France Square demanding Mr Pashinian steps down.

Opposition leader and parliament vice-speaker Ishkhan Saghatelyan has previously described the PM as a traitor, saying the daily protests will force him to resign.

Demonstrations were also held in the city of Stepanakert in Nagorno-Karabakh on Saturday.

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/w/tens-thousands-demand-armenian-pm-resigns-over-national-humiliation