Political crisis brewing in Armenia as military confront prime minister

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Armenia demanded both Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and his government should resign. The statement from the military came after Pashinyan dismissed First Deputy Chief of the General Staff of Armenia Tiran Khachatrian. The latter was dismissed from his post after he laughed at Pashinyan's words about the ineffectiveness of Russian Iskander missile systems. Khachatrian laughed and called that statement not serious.Representatives of the General Staff of Armenia set out a "strong protest" in connection with the resignation of Khachatrian and called its reasons "short-sighted and unfounded." According to the military, the dismissal of the deputy chief of the General Staff was carried out "contrary to national and state interests of the Republic of Armenia and was based only on personal and ambitious feelings." "From now on, the Prime Minister and the Government of Armenia are unable to make adequate decisions in this critical and fateful situation for the Armenian people," the statement reads, RBC reports. The General Staff accused the sitting government of Armenia of attacks in order to discredit the country's Armed Forces, stressing that the military honorably fulfilled their duty and fought "shoulder to shoulder with their people against the enemy." The Armed Forces demanded the Prime Minister and the government of the republic should resign and urged not to use force against the people.