Category: 2022

 20:20,

YEREVAN, 24 JANUARY, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan does not consider it appropriate to comment on Armen Sarkissian’s statement on the motives for resigning from the post of President of Armenia, ARMENPRESS reports he said during an online press conference organized for the representatives of mass media and non-governmental organizations.

"The decision was made by the President. I learned about it hours before it was made public. He called me 3.5 hours before the publication yesterday, and we talked about it. I asked the President of the Republic if he was discussing the issue with me or he just informed me that he had made the decision. I tried to understand whether the decision was subject to discussion or not. After that, he said he had made a decision," Pashinyan said.

He noted that the positions of the President of the Republic regarding the Constitution were known earlier. "During the previous question-and-answer session, when we were discussing the topic of constitutional amendments, I said that my position in this regard differs slightly or significantly from the position of the President of the Republic. But I also want to emphasize that after 2018, when Armen Sarkissian was elected President of the Republic and then I was elected Prime Minister, there has been no change in any provision in the Constitution regarding the powers of the President of the Republic. During all this time, the rules have not changed," said the Prime Minister.

Pashinyan noted that the announcement of the president's resignation refers to its motives. ”I do not consider it appropriate to comment on them," the PM said, adding that each official decides on what arguments such decisions should be made.

 21:15,

YEREVAN, 24 JANUARY, ARMENPRESS. Armenia wants to establish relations with Turkey without preconditions, ARMENPRESS reports Pashinyan said during an online press conference organized for the representatives of mass media and non-governmental organizations.

"Do we want to open the Armenia-Turkey border? Yes, we are sincere in that position. It did not happen then (ed. In 2009), now we must try to take into account the previous experience," he said.

Answering the question to what extent it is possible for Turkey to put forward preconditions for the normalization of relations again, Pashinyan emphasized. "Yes, there were no preconditions in the Armenian-Turkish protocols of 2009, but later preconditions appeared. We cannot guarantee that this will not happen again. We need to understand how interested the parties are. The process is transparent from the very beginning of the political negotiations. This has never been the case before.”

The Armenian PM mentioned that they have no secrets from the public. "Our policy will be in the realm of public announcements. But constantly leaking working information will not benefit the process."

Referring to the failure of the 2009 process, Pashinyan noted that there were factors that were different at that time. "At that time, the negotiations were conducted by the President on the Turkish side and the Armenian President on the Armenian side. But at that time Turkey was a country of parliamentary model of government. It is true that the President of Turkey was a representative of the ruling political team, but nevertheless, he was not the head of the country, the Prime Minister was the head. The dialogue is now taking place under a mandate given by the President of Turkey. In other words, this is one of the factors that can have a certain impact on the process, hopingly, a positive impact”, the PM said.

Pashinyan rules out the involvement of CSTO forces in suppressing internal political processes

 21:50,

YEREVAN, 24 JANUARY, ARMENPRESS. It is in Armenia's interest for the Collective Security Treaty Organization to be an effective system, ARMENPRESS reports Pashinyan said during an online press conference organized for the representatives of mass media and non-governmental organizations.

Answering the question whether, based on the Kazakh precedent, any Armenian government in the future can suppress the internal political uprisings in the country bringing forward the same reasons, involving the CSTO forces, the Prime Minister said, “After November 9, 2020, we have had undesirable developments in Armenia for the government. We demonstrated in practice our vision on the tools to overcome these situations. After the events of November 9, when the Government, the National Assembly, the government cottages were attacked, an assassination attempt was made on the National Assembly President, no shots were fired by the authorities in Armenia, no force was used by the Armenian government. Roads were blocked, no action was taken to open the roads. We have already shown our toolkit for solving internal political problems. We went to the early elections. Our law enforcement agencies have been at their height."

Answering the question why the CSTO did not suppress the revolution in 2018, Pashinyan stated that in 2018 there was no case of violence in Armenia. "When we decided to send a peacekeeping mission to Kazakhstan, there were already street battles there, there were casualties."

The Prime Minister reminded that from the first day of his government, the activity of the Armenian side in the CSTO was aimed at improving the crisis response mechanisms.

"It would be strange if such a situation existed for the first time, and Armenia would say that it is against. It is in Armenia's interest to have a CSTO as an effective system. This answers all the questions," he said.

Pashinyan stressed that Armenia has clearly stated that the CSTO forces cannot be involved in any internal political processes, but can be engaged in the protection of objects of strategic importance. "The Armenian Armed Forces have been defending a bakery in Kazakhstan. I do not think there is anything reprehensible in it. The protection of the bread factory does not affect the internal political process in any way," said the Prime Minister.

Chania lighthouse, Alexandroupolis City Hall lit up in Armenian flag colors

 09:55, 21 January, 2022

YEREVAN, JANUARY 21, ARMENPRESS. On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations between Armenia and Greece, the famous lighthouse in the Greek city of Chania (Crete island) and the City Hall building of Alexandroupolis were lit up in the colors of the Armenian flag, the Armenian Embassy in Greece said on social media.

Armenia and Greece established diplomatic relations on January 20, 1992.