Coup Atlas Research Database
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37109252023ConspiracyDissident coup

Armenia, 2023 — dissident coup conspiracy

Armenia (ARM)Western Asia, AsiaSeptember 25, 2023

Event Summary

This entry is coded 25 September 2023, corresponding to the September 2023 alleged coup attempt against Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of Armenia. On 24 September 2023 the Armenian government announced that it had foiled an attempted coup by a militia during mass protests triggered by Azerbaijan's 19 September 2023 offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh, which forced the ethnic Armenian authorities of Artsakh to surrender. The Khachakirner militia, which had fought in Nagorno-Karabakh, had demanded arms and support from the Armenian government to open the Lachin corridor, threatening to take matters into their own hands, and 14 of its members were arrested after clashing with police.

The protests, which accused Pashinyan of abandoning Artsakh and demanded his resignation, saw crowds try to storm the Government House in Yerevan. Pashinyan characterized the calls for his removal as an attempted coup, saying the country must not allow certain forces to strike a blow at the Armenian state. The 25 September 2023 coding matches this announcement and protest period.

Researched Details

Researched

Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.

Target identified in Coup Atlas research: Pashinyan said the coup was foiled and remained in office
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan (target)
the Khachakirner militia and its leader Sarkis Poghosyan
anti-government protesters over the loss of Nagorno-Karabakh

Sources

On 24 September 2023 the Armenian government announced that it had foiled an attempted coup by a militia during mass protests due to the 2023 Azerbaijani offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia: September 2023 Armenian coup attempt allegations open source ↗
The Khachakirner militia had fought in Nagorno-Karabakh, and its leader Sarkis Poghosyan had demanded arms and support for an operation to open the Lachin corridor, otherwise they would attempt to open it themselves, with 14 members arrested after a street fight against police.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia: September 2023 Armenian coup attempt allegations open source ↗
Hundreds of protesters gathered outside government buildings in Yerevan denouncing Pashinyan as soft on Azerbaijan, in what Pashinyan characterized as calls for a coup and his removal from office, and clashed with police in an attempt to storm the Government House.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia: 2023 Armenian protests open source ↗
In September 2023 Armenia's National Security Service claimed to have foiled a plot by the Khachakirner to topple the government so it would intervene and open the Lachin corridor, one of several alleged coup attempts the NSS reported in a three-year span.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia: 2025 Armenian coup attempt allegations open source ↗

Editorial Note

Coded 25 Sep 2023 matches the government's announcement (24 Sep) and the protest period after the 19 Sep Azerbaijani offensive. Verified as the September 2023 Armenia coup allegations. First Armenia record in the run.

Cross-Reference

Only one dataset carries it. One of the three reference datasets we check against carries this event; the others do not list it. That is not a contradiction — the datasets cover different periods and use different thresholds — but it means the record has had less outside corroboration.

Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:

Cline Center id
37109252023

How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.

Outcome and Target

Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: Pashinyan said the coup was foiled and remained in office.

Baseline coding: Plot discovered and disrupted before execution. Recorded leader fate: remained in office; not physically harmed. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.

Baseline Dataset Citation

Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset, v2.2.2
Peyton, Buddy, Joseph Bajjalieh, Michael Martin, and Andrea Gerald. 2026. Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset. Cline Center for Advanced Social Research. V.2.2.2. February 17. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. doi: 10.13012/B2IDB-9651987_V10
⚑ This citation establishes the coded baseline record; use the claim-level sources above for the researched narrative.

Baseline Source-Document Entries

Turkiye

“Coup attempt in Armenia: 8 commanders arrested,” September 25, 2023

Azutut News

“8 Suspects Arrested Over ‘Coup Plot’,” September 25, 2023
“Pro-Western Group Denies Role in Armenian ‘Coup Plot’,” November 6, 2023

This is the citation trail carried by the baseline dataset, grouped by outlet and rejoined from the line-wrapped original. Coup Atlas has not independently re-checked every document; read the original before citing a specific claim. URLs the import damaged beyond safe repair are shown as plain text and listed in citations-report.md. How this list is built →

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