Pashinyan says his Karabakh decisions saved Armenia from a ‘trap of non-existence’

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said he saved Armenia from a “trap of non-existence” through his difficult decisions on Karabakh during his previous terms in office.

“I believe that through my very difficult and painful decisions regarding the Karabakh issue, I have taken Armenia out of the trap,” Pashinyan said at a press briefing.

He said the people of Armenia share this view, pointing to the fact that he remains in office.

“And the people of Armenia share this view; otherwise, I would not be standing here. Through my decisions regarding Karabakh, I have taken Armenia out of the trap of non-existence, and I am proud of that. I say again: we spared nothing for Karabakh. During our administration, we provided Karabakh with an additional $1 billion in funding. Pensions here were lower, while there they were higher, and so on. And this is only the part that is also visible in the documents; there are things we do not talk about,” Pashinyan said.

He added that he had also addressed the issue during the election campaign ahead of Armenia’s June 7 parliamentary elections, saying that although his statements were “very emotional,” they were substantively accurate.

Pashinyan also said that the people of Armenia have had two opportunities to express their position on the issue through elections.

“The issue has gone through elections twice. The people of Armenia have expressed their position on this issue twice. They have expressed it through elections twice and through their everyday lives for five years. As someone who came to power through a revolution, I say that the people of Armenia can always make a revolution. When I said that we were ending the Karabakh movement, I said: ‘Dear people, I have made this decision and will implement it as the prime minister elected by you. If you believe this is the wrong path, you can make a revolution and remove me from power,’” Pashinyan said.