Supporters of the opposition in Armenia continued their protests calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, calling on the army to rise up, and at a time when the president persisted not to dismiss the Chief of Staff, Parliament is preparing to hold an extraordinary session to discuss the political crisis.

The opposition - whose supporters gathered in front of the presidential palace and parliament building in the capital Yerevan - said that it would force the ruling party deputies to participate in the session, which has not yet been held due to lack of a quorum, calling on the army to rise up.

It also demands, along with the leadership of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, the resignation of Pashinyan and his government as the only way to extricate the country from the crisis it is going through after Armenia lost the recent Karabakh war.

Meanwhile, President Armen Sarkissian has returned to the government the prime minister's request to dismiss the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, and raised objections to his removal.

According to the constitution, if the prime minister submits a new petition in this regard, the president can either sign it or refer the matter to the Constitutional Court.

Pashinyan had said that he had repelled an attempted coup against the government, calling on the army to protect Armenia and to comply with the will of the people and the elected authorities.

He also called on the opposition to dialogue in order to end the crisis, but at the same time vowed to arrest anyone who goes beyond political statements.

Pashinyan announced the dismissal of the Chief of General Staff, but President Sarkissian has not yet signed the dismissal order.

International reactions

In the most prominent international reactions to these developments, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said that his country does not interfere in the internal affairs of Armenia, but that does not mean that Yerevan does not implement its pledges in the "November Declaration" after the Azerbaijan-Armenian War.

In statements to him at a press conference in the Azerbaijani capital Baku, Aliyev added, "I hope that the current bad situation of Armenia will not affect its obligations in implementing the articles of the November tenth declaration, otherwise it will fall into more difficult situations .. Armenia must realize that its options are not many."

Aliyev warned Armenia not to abide by its obligations regarding the ceasefire agreement in Karabakh (Agencies)

For his part, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the coup attempt in Armenia could not be accepted, stressing that only the Armenian people have the right to change the regime in the country.

In statements to a press conference after Friday prayers in Istanbul, Erdogan said, "We oppose all kinds of military coups. The attempt of the military coup by sending calls to change the ruling regime is unacceptable."

"The fate of Pashinyan is clear," the Turkish president said, adding that indications are that "the Armenian people are tired of the current administration and government ... and it is clear that the Armenian people are fed up with Pashinyan, and that the people themselves will topple him."

Karabakh war

Pashinyan has been facing protests and calls to resign since last November, after his opponents spoke of a "catastrophic" management of the 6-week bloody conflict between Azerbaijan and the forces of Armenian descent in the Nagorno-Karabakh region and surrounding areas.

Armenian forces lost large areas to Azerbaijani forces in last year's conflict that killed thousands.

A Russian peace-keeping force is currently deployed in the enclave, which is recognized by the international community as part of Azerbaijan, but its residents are of Armenian descent.

Since its independence with the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, Armenia has witnessed a series of crises and political revolutions, some of them dead.