Pashinyan Says Loss of Artsakh Benefited Armenia
A mass rally in Stepanakert to protest Azerbaijan’s blockade of Artsakh
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Thursday told lawmakers that the loss of Artsakh that occurred as a result of Azerbaijan’s brazen military attacks benefited Armenia, calling Artsakh a “noose” that prevented Armenia’s development.
“There is a lot of talk that we have lost Nagorno-Karabakh. I have thought a lot about this issue, and concluded that we have not lost Nagorno-Karabakh, but have found the Republic of Armenia,” Pashinyan said while speaking Parliament on the budget implementation process.
“This is the truth,” he declared.
“The ‘Nagorno-Karabakh issue,’ as the opposition colleagues are calling it, was used as a noose so that the Republic of Armenia, as an independent and sovereign state, would not exist,” Pashinyan said.
“The Republic of Armenia exists. I… am more optimistic than ever about the future of the Republic of Armenia,” Pashinyan added.
The prime minister’s remarks came on the eve of his much-touted to Turkey, where he will me with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who extended the invitation to the Armenian leader.
During his remarks Thursday Pashinyan also touted Armenia’s readiness to address regional problems, while downplaying the impact the ongoing Iran-Israel conflict may have on Armenia.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday Pashinyan scoffed at concerns voiced by opposition and other political leaders who have said that Azerbaijan may take advantage of the situation and attack Armenia’s Syunik Province, in an effort to fulfill its scheme to create a land corridor through Armenia to connect to Nakhichevan.
Pashinyan blasted his critics accusing them of being “provocative” for raising concerns and warning that Azerbaijan may attack Armenia.
Claiming that Baku and Yerevan have finalized a peace treaty, Pashinyan insisted that Azerbaijan would not attack Armenia, despite ongoing preconditions and veiled threats from President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan.
“As I have said, there will be no war between Armenia and Azerbaijan, there will be peace,” Pashinyan asserted to reporters on Wednesday.
“As a person who has been holding the post of Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia for seven years now, the Republic of Armenia has never been as prepared for international situations and circumstances, for possible regional problems, as it is today,” Pashinyan said on Thursday. “And the most important expression of this are those foreign relations that are balanced and the result of the balancing foreign policy that we have.”
He also called the peace process with Azerbaijan “dynamic,” despite continued preconditions and threats being voiced by Azerbaijan, especially its president, Ilham Aliyev.
“It is the process of active dialogue with Turkey. Yes, it is the normalization of our relations and our situation in various directions and the undoubted and unprecedented increase in our international standing,” Pashinyan claimed.
