Armenia’s security services say they prevented ASSASSINATION attempt on PM Pashinyan

Political rivals were preparing to assassinate Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and seize power in the country, Armenia’s National Security Service said, announcing the arrest of several prominent opposition figures.

The operatives have discovered a large stash of weapons, explosives and ammunition at the home of a resident of the country’s southern Syunik Province, which borders Azerbaijan, the agency said in a statement on its website. The suspect, identified only as A.M., is believed to have had “anti-government views and disagreed with the prime minister’s domestic and foreign policy.”  

The owner of the stash is suspected of having reached an agreement with some politicians in Armenia, as well as the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, for his weapons to be used “for the seizure of power, termination of the activities of the prime minister by illegally depriving him of his life and usurping the powers of the government,” the statement read.

But those “grave crimes were uncovered and prevented by the National Security Service (NSS),” the agency said.

It also announced the arrests of the former NSS head, Artur Vanetsyan, and former MP Vahram Baghdasaryan, as well as an unnamed member of Armenian Revolutionary Federation party and a commander of a volunteer paramilitary unit in connection with the assassination plot.

In recent days, thousands of protesters have been taking to the streets of the Armenian capital Yerevan, demanding the swift resignation of Pashinyan over an armistice he signed with Azerbaijan. He was branded “a traitor” after surprisingly signing a deal which passed some territories in Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijan in exchange for a cessation of hostilities.

Russian peacekeepers will be deployed in the region to separate the sides as part of the agreement between Yerevan, Baku and Moscow. The Armenian PM justified signing the document based on evaluations of the situation on the ground by the military.

The fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh, which has been a bone of contention between the neighbors for decades, erupted in late September. Both Yerevan and Baku insist that they have rights to the territory, which is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but is primarily populated by ethnic Armenians.

Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!