Nagorno-Karabakh is located within Azerbaijan, but has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since the separatist war ended in 1994.
The Armenian Foreign Minister submitted his resignation on November 16 amid the political turmoil that has affected the country after a ceasefire agreement for the separatist Nagorno-Karabakh region that calls for the cede territory to Azerbaijan, an adversary since long ago.
The truce negotiated by Moscow halted the fighting that killed hundreds, possibly thousands, in six weeks, but stipulated that Armenia hand over control of some areas outside the Nagorno-Karabakh borders to Azerbaijan.
Nagorno-Karabakh is located within Azerbaijan, but has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia since a separatist war ended in 1994. That war left not only Nagorno-Karabakh, but also substantial surrounding territory in Armenian hands. .
The agreement was made in Azerbaijan, but sparked massive protests in Armenia, with thousands of people taking to the streets demanding that the country’s prime minister, Nikol Pashinian, resign and that the agreement be invalidated.
Chancellor Zohrab Mnatsakanyan’s resignation was announced by his spokesman. Anna Nagdhalyan posted her handwritten resignation letter on Facebook shortly after Pashinian said in parliament that she decided to fire him.
Early Monday, the ministry publicly disagreed with Pashinian on the course of the Nagorno-Karabakh peace talks.
Pashinian said during an online press conference early Monday that there were offers to cede the Armenian-controlled Azerbaijani regions around Nagorno-Karabakh and the city of Shusha, which is strategically located near the territory’s capital, Stepanakert.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Ms Naghdalyan was quick to respond on Facebook that resigning Shusha was never on the agenda at any stage of the peace negotiations.
The exchange and the subsequent resignation of Mr. Mnatsakanyan, who has held the post since May 2018, may indicate that the political crisis in Armenia is deepening.
It comes as 17 opposition parties and their supporters continue to demand Pashinian’s removal, with thousands of people regularly taking to the streets of Armenia’s capital. On Monday, crowds gathered in Yerevan for another rally.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have been locked in a conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh for decades. The heavy fighting that broke out on September 27 marked the largest escalation in more than a quarter century, killing hundreds and possibly thousands of people.
A truce brokered by Russia last week halted the violence after several failed attempts to establish a lasting ceasefire. The deal came two days after Azerbaijan, which had made significant progress, announced that it had seized Shusha.
Russian peacekeepers have begun to deploy to the region; a total of 1,960 of them will be sent with a mandate of five years. Russia’s Defense Ministry reported on Monday that peacekeepers accompanied about 1,200 people returning to Nagorno-Karabakh from Armenia since Saturday.
At the same time, many ethnic Armenians have been leaving territories to be handed over to Azerbaijan, some set fire to their houses in a bitter farewell and dug the graves of their relatives to bury their remains in Armenia.
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