Protests and counter protests appeared in the capital shortly afterwards on Thursday.

It's not immediately clear if the army is willing to use force to make prime minister nickel passion in resign along with the rest of his administration or whether it was just talk.

But the leader has faced calls to quit for months over his handling of the devastating military conflict it fought with Azerbaijan last year, and the army, in a written statement, said quote the serious mistakes in foreign policy have put the country on the brink of collapse.

Thousands of people are believed to have died in the fighting with Azerbaijan, where ethnic Armenians lost huge areas of territory to Azeri forces.

Thursday's development has also alarmed Russia, which has a military base in Armenia and has peacekeepers watching the region.

It's calling for calm and for Armenians toe work within their constitution.

Turkey, which supported Azerbaijan during the conflict, is condemning the move as well.