On September 24, 2023, the

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

n government announced that it had foiled an attempted coup by a militia during mass protests due to the

2023 Azerbaijani offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh Between 19 and 20 September 2023, Azerbaijan launched a large-scale military offensive against the political status of Nagorno-Karabakh, self-declared breakaway state of Republic of Artsakh, Artsakh, a move seen as a violation of the 2020 Nago ...

Background

The Khachakirner militia had fought in

Nagorno-Karabakh Nagorno-Karabakh (, ; ) is a region in Azerbaijan, covering the southeastern stretch of the Lesser Caucasus mountain range. Part of the greater region of Karabakh, it spans the area between Lower Karabakh and Syunik Province, Syunik. Its ter ...

and in August 2023 it was reported their leader, Sarkis Poghosyan had met with the Armenian government and demanded arms and support for an operation to open the

Lachin corridor __NOTOC__ The Lachin corridor was a mountain road in Azerbaijan that linked Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh. Being the only road between these two territories, it was considered a humanitarian corridor or "lifeline" to the Armenian population of ...

, otherwise they would attempt to open it themselves. The Khachakirner repeatedly made statements that if the Armenian government did not launch a military operation into Lachin that they would "take matters into their own hands" and had engaged in a street fight against Armenian police after they were blocked from advancing further than Kornidzor with 14 members being arrested.

Albert Bazeyan Albert Bazeyan (; born 28 May 1956) is an Armenian politician. He served as Mayor of Yerevan from August 1999 to January 2001. Biography Albert Bazeyan was born in Lanjaghbyur, Armenia SSR. He attended the Yerevan Institute of Physical Cult ...

had been a leading figure in Armenian politics in the late 1990s and the early 2000s. A veteran of the

First Nagorno-Karabakh War The First Nagorno-Karabakh War was an ethnic conflict, ethnic and territorial conflict that took place from February 1988 to May 1994, in the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in southwestern Azerbaijan, between the majority ethnic Armenians of Nag ...

, Bazeyan had served as

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , ; ; sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia, as well as one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerev ...

and was a leader of the opposition in the

Armenian parliament The National Assembly of Armenia (, ''Hayastani Hanrapetyut'yan Azgayin zhoghov'' or simply Ազգային ժողով, ԱԺ, ''Azgayin Zhoghov'', ''AZh''), also informally referred to as the Parliament of Armenia (խորհրդարան, ''khor ...

, being one of the more vocal opponents of then-President Robert Kocharia. However, Bazeyan would largely fade from the public light after he left parliament in 2008, until he started attending and speaking at anti- Pashinyan rallies. The announcement of the foiled coup, as well as the arrests, came amidst mass protests against the government due to it, and the

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n government's inaction to stop the

Plot

The Khachakirner, officially organized as a

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

, held anti-government views and was deemed "ideologically hostile" towards the Armenian government and to the person of

Nikol Pashinyan Nikol Vovayi Pashinyan (born 1 June 1975) is an Armenian politician who is serving as the 16th and current Prime Minister of Armenia, prime minister of Armenia since 8 May 2018. A journalist by profession, Pashinyan founded his own newspaper in ...

. The militia had entered into a "preliminary conspiracy" and reached an agreement to use their arms and ammunition to usurp power. The plotters acquired telecommunications equipment, jamming devices, and deliberately "created conditions" to commit to their plot, although the exact "conditions" have not been revealed by the National Security Service (NSS).

Arrests

The NSS detected the plot before the plotters had time to commit to the coup and arrested the ringleaders. One of those arrested was

alongside seven members of the Khachakirner. Bazeyan would deny all charges and quickly be moved to house arrest and released in March. His direct connection to the coup attempt was not stated by the NSS, who claimed his arrest was a preventive measure. The leader of the Khachakirner, Sargis Poghosian, was not among those arrested by the NSS. During the arrests the police also raided the Khachakirner offices, confiscating weapons, ammunition and electronic jamming devices.

Background

Plot

Arrests

References

See also