Unrest in Armenia after Signing of Peace Treaty
Armenians flooded the Armenian parliamentary chambers in Yerevan in protest of the ceasefire. (Wikimedia Commons)
The current conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh has ceased, but Armenia’s troubles persist. Following a ceasefire signed on November 9 in which Azerbaijan gained significant territory, including areas surrounding the ethnically Armenian region of Nagorno-Karabakh, protests erupted around the country. Some escalated to violence, with one notable victim being the President of the National Assembly of Armenia, Ararat Mirzoyan, who was hospitalized after being assaulted by anti-government protestors.
One early site of protests was the government building in Yerevan, the Armenian capital. There, many protestors, including veterans of the first Nagorno-Karabakh war, stormed the parliament chambers and vandalized the interior. Others broke into Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s house, searched for him, and took some of his personal belongings.
Some ethnic Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh responded to news of the ceasefire by burning down their houses and emigrating en masse before Azerbaijan could officially take possession of the region. The Azerbaijani government denounced these actions and agreed to postpone the transfer of territory until November 25.
Worries for the rights of Armenians who choose to stay after the transfer are high: Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev himself stated,“Karabakh will have no [autonomous] status as long as I am president.” Such a sentiment was seconded by his presidential aide, who said, “The placement and settlement of the Armenian population in the occupied territory of the Kelbajar region was illegal… All illegal settlements there must be evicted.”
Pashinyan is the main target of Armenian public vitriol, with many denouncing him as a traitor and demanding his resignation for accepting the disadvantageous ceasefire. In a Facebook post, Pashinyan defended the choice as necessary following a series of military defeats—most notably the loss of the strategically and culturally important city of Shusha, known to Armenians as “Shushi,” on November 8. Though the prime minister declared his intentions to stay in power, the country’s foreign minister recently announced his resignation in what has been the highest-level political departure so far.
An attempted coup and assassination of Pashinyan was allegedly planned before the conspirators were arrested, according to the National Security Service (NSS). Among the suspects for this are the former head of the NSS, several high-ranking politicians, and an army colonel. Critics claimed that the arrests were entirely motivated by politics and without legal merit.
In responding to the crisis, the Pashinyan sought to deflect criticism towards allegedly corrupt officials in government. “We must prepare for revenge,” he said. “We haven’t dealt properly with the corrupt, oligarchic scoundrels, those who robbed this country, stole soldiers’ food, stole soldiers’ weapons.” He specifically targeted four rival political parties, implying that their supporters in the military willingly deserted their posts.
The contentious ceasefire, which has been the fourth of its kind, possesses an added stipulation that may drastically alter the balance of power in the Caucasus: nearly 2,000 Russian military peacekeepers will patrol the region for a period of at least five years. Turkey, a regional adversary of Russia that has heavily aided Azerbaijan in the conflict, is currently deliberating a motion to deploy its own peacekeepers. This goes against the wishes of Russia, which did not include any provisions in the ceasefire for a joint Russo-Turkish military presence.
Widespread celebrations across Azerbaijan juxtapose the turmoil in Armenia. News of the truce came out on Azerbaijan’s national State Flag Day.