Armenia's President resigns over lack of tools to influence policy decisions

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Armenia's President, Armen Sarkissian, tendered his resignation today, Sunday, in a statement published on his official website.

The President said that the country's constitution does not give him sufficient powers to influence both domestic and foreign policies.

"I have been thinking for a long time, I have decided to resign from the post of the President of the Republic after working actively for about four years," he said in the statement.

The President added that he "does not have the necessary jurisdictions to influence the important processes of foreign and domestic policy in such difficult times for the people and the country."

Sarkissian has been the President of Armenia since 2018, and he was in a standoff with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan last year over several issues, including dismissing the head of the armed forces.

Ongoing border crisis

The country has been witnessing disputes in the Nagorno-Karabakh region for over a year.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said early in October he was willing to sit down with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to exchange maps detailing the location of landmines in Agdam with Armenian detainees.

Clashes renewed in November, and 15 Armenian soldiers died on the border with Azerbaijan, after which the two countries reached a Russian-mediated truce.

Confrontations renewed between the two countries recently on the borders, resulting in several casualties from both sides.

Armenia and Azerbaijan reported clashes again on January 13 that resulted in the killing of one Azeri soldier and two Armenian soldiers. The incident occurred in the Kalbajar area on the border. 

Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry claimed that the cause of the soldier's death is "provocation" by Armenian soldiers and that "all responsibility for tension lies with the military-political leadership of Armenia," whereby the latter cites similar provocations.