YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — Hundreds of opposition supporters have maintained the blockade of the Armenian parliament for a second straight day, demanding the resignation of the country’s embattled prime minister. Nikol Pashinyan has rejected the opposition’s pressure to step down over a November peace deal that ended weeks of fierce fighting over the Nagorno-Karabakh by allowing Azerbaijan to reclaim control over lands that had been held by Armenian forces for decades. Political tensions spiked last month when the military’s General Staff demanded Pashinyan’s resignation, and he responded by firing the chief of the General Staff, Col. Gen. Onik Gasparyan. Pashinyan on Wednesday named a successor to Gasparyan and met with the top military brass.
