Armenian president refuses to fire armed forces chief at center of political crisis

Reuters

Published Feb 27, 2021 09:24AM ET

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Armenian President Armen Sarkissian has refused to fire the head of the general staff of the country's armed forces after he was dismissed by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, the presidential office said on Saturday.

Pashinyan dismissed the head of the general staff Onik Gasparyan on Thursday after what he had called an attempted coup to remove him, but the move had to be signed off by the president.

According to the president's statement, posted on the presidential office website, the move to dismiss Gasparyan was unconstitutional.