Category: 2020

In a LIVE address to the Karabakh refugees currently in Armenia, Karabakh President Arayik Harutyunyan said Wednesday, “Today we are solving infrastructure problems and social issues. There are enough resources to ensure a normal life. All roads will be protected. Residents of Karabakh, return to Karabakh.”

Harutyunyan also addressed the rumors regarding betrayals. He reminded that the first time he had alerted the nation about the lack of manpower was on October 3. Harutyunyan said that since then, he had continuously warned that they needed more soldiers.

“We had to sign a ceasefire because the soldiers were in danger of being completely surrounded. We did not have enough manpower to defend Shushi, the enemy had sent an army of 6,000 to the area…Only men who fought on the frontline and mothers who lost their sons have the right to blame us,” Harutyunyan said.

He repeatedly urged the public not to look for traitors, and mentioned that whoever is looking, must answer where he was during the war.

On November 10, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pahsinyan announced that he has signed a ceasefire statement with Russia and Azerbaijan to end the war in Karabakh. The agreement is a major defeat for Armenia in the territory of Karabakh. 

Environ 5000 manifestants furieux sont sortis dans les rues d’Erevan pour demander la démission du premier ministre armenien Nikol Pashinyan suite à l’accord de cessez-le-feu signé le 10 novembre.

Nikol Pashinyan a, quant à lui, expliqué dans un direct les raisons de la signature de l’accord de cessation des hostilités.

✓A protest march took place in Yerevan, demanding the Karabakh peace agreement be scrapped and Pashiynan resign.

✓Gagik Tsarukyan has been arrested by the National Security Service.

✓Arrests have taken place regarding the ransacking of parliament and the assault on the parliament speaker.

✓Nikol Pashinyan explains why the Armenian side decided to sign the agreement.

In a LIVE Facebook video, entitled “My greatest sin”, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan spoke about the fall of Shushi and the conspiracy theories that have surrounded the event.

“The biggest sin attributed to me is the well-known document, which says that I agreed to hand over three territories – Aghdam, Lachin, Kelbajar – to Azerbaijan. In fact, it may not seem obvious, but that document was not about handing over [land], but about keeping it.

“The document was signed at a time when Shushi had already fallen, when Armenia’s Armed Forces General Staff Office was reporting to that resources were in a problematic state, and the political leadership of Artsakh shared that opinion,” said Pashinyan.

The prime minister spoke about what would have happened if the document had not been signed at that moment.

“In fact, that document gave [to Azerbaijan] what, according to the military assessment, we could not keep in that situation. And, in a situation when Stepanakert was left defenseless, if the hostilities continued, there was a very high probability that Stepanakert would also be captured, as well as Martuni and Askeran. If this happened, our third, fourth, fifth, sixth defense lines would be under siege, and thousands of our soldiers would be surrounded. This would result in a total collapse. It was on the basis of this assessment that the decision was made. And, it is not by accidental that these days there are already dozens of soldiers sending video messages from the frontlines in defense of the decision made. And why? It’s because they saw and understood the situation, no matter how bitter it is.”

Pashinyan also referred to the rumors and conspiracies about the fall of Shushi.

“Attempts were made to take back Shushi twice after it fell. One of these attempts failed completely. During another attempt, one of our detachments managed to enter Shushi. And much of the controversy in the media about Shushi was connected with this event.

“I was also told that yesterday the chairman of the Prosperous Armenia Party Gagik Tsarukyan stated that allegedly on October 28, while Shushi was still standing, Russia was ready to deploy peacekeepers to Karabakh, but I did not agree then, and I only agreed when Shushi was already lost. Of course, this is absolute nonsense,” Pashinyan said.

In his address, Pashinyan noted that in an October 22 interview with the Russian Ria Novosti, he had said that he was in favor of the deployment of Russian peacekeeping troops in Karabakh.”

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan addressed the nation today, explaining why he was forced to sign, in his words, the “infamous document.”

According to him, the enemy had reached Shushi and Stepanakert. “These cities were in the rear during the war, they did not have defensive structures, and what would have happened after the fall of these cities? Several defensive sectors of the Defense Army would have been surrounded by the enemy, which means that more than 20,000 of our soldiers would have been under threat,” Pashinyan said, adding that in these conditions, the fall of Kashatagh and Karvachar districts would have been inevitable.

The Prime Minister explained that the moment they realized that the Armenian soldier could not influence events, soldiers would no longer have to die for the motherland, instead the motherland would make a sacrifice for the soldiers. 

“According to this logic, I signed the infamous document known to all of you, and when I signed it, I realized that the probability that I would personally die is great not only in the political but also in the physical sense, but the life of 25 thousand soldiers was more important, I think, for you too.”

These soldiers, according to the head of government, had no chance to influence the situation that would unfold in the rear.

“It was time for the commander to endanger his own life for the lives of these soldiers, time for the Motherland to make sacrifices for the soldiers that spared nothing for sake of the Motherland,” Pashinyan said, explaining that in this situation it was necessary to make a decision within a few hours, otherwise the process would have started, which could have ended with the death of 25 thousand soldiers or their capture.

He also touched upon the issue of resignation. “And why didn’t I resign, so as not to sign this paper, because it would mean desertion, it would mean leaving the issue of fulfilling the hellish duty in the name of the soldiers on someone else’s shoulders.”

According to Nikol Pashinyan, the Karabakh issue is still not resolved. The next question that arises, according to him, is why in such conditions it was impossible to reach a ceasefire at the beginning of the war or a little later. “To do this, it was necessary to hand over seven districts without a fight, as well as Shushi, and we hoped that with the involvement of new resources, superhuman efforts, we would be able to make a breakthrough,” Pashinyan said. According to him, this is the reason that he and the President of Artsakh Arayik Harutyunyan periodically made calls for military conscription.

Pashinyan also touched upon the content of the document itself, saying that it is really bad for us, but we should not make it worse than it really is.

“In particular, there are rumors spreading about the surrender of Meghri, which is absolutely ridiculous, we are just talking about unblocking transport routes in the region, including from Azerbaijan to Nakhichevan, but this means that transport routes from Yerevan to Syunik via Nakhichevan, including the railway connection between Armenia and Iran, should also be unblocked,” the Prime Minister said, adding that this may have a significant impact on our economy.

As for the territories under the control of Artsakh, according to Pashinyan, thanks to the Russian peacekeepers, the Lachin corridor from Goris to Stepanakert will operate smoothly, and Russian peacekeepers will provide the same safe road across the entire territory in the Shushi section.

He also called on residents of the territories located within the perimeter of the deployment of peacekeepers to return to their homes, if viable

He also said that the international recognition of the Republic of Artsakh is becoming an absolute priority. “There are stronger arguments for this now.”

According to Pashinyan, at the moment, restoring the atmosphere of stability and security in the country is a priority for Armenia.

“The organizers and many of the active participants in the civil strife have been detained, but they will be identified and brought to justice.

“For decades, the country’s property and income have flowed into the pockets of people you know well, and not towards the development of the army,” the Prime Minister said.

According to him, our country has a future, and we must do everything to make this difficult test of ours an important cornerstone of this future.

“We must learn a lesson. Many will ask whether it is possible to talk about a good future after this brutal war. Yes, because there are countries in the world that were subjected to the most brutal capitulations of the 20th century, but today they are among the most powerful countries in the world.”