Levon Ter-Petrosyan: 'Nikol Pashinyan is My Political Godchild, and I Am His Godfather. Pure Nonsense.'

The first President of Armenia, Levon Ter-Petrosyan, has published an article on ilur.am, addressing his relationship with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. The article states:

“Almost every day, some ‘sensational’ news, nonsense, obvious lies, or rumors regarding these relationships are thrown into the public domain. Usually, I do not respond to them and do not pay them any attention. Only occasionally, unable to resist the persistence of journalists, does my office’s press secretary issue denials.

Why, then, have I decided to address these matters personally this time, breaking my usual practice? I assure you, it is not at all for self-defense, but exclusively to avoid making Nikol Pashinyan the target of fabricated accusations. Therefore, putting aside minor absurdities, I consider it important to draw public attention solely to the following claims disseminated by Pashinyan's political opponents and media serving them.

And so:

1. It is presented as an axiomatic truth that Nikol Pashinyan is my political godchild, and I am his godfather. This is pure nonsense. From the 1990s until the mid-2000s, Pashinyan, as a journalist, was one of my most severe and uncompromising critics. After becoming a founding member of the ‘Alternative’ initiative in 2006, he stopped that critical attitude. In 2007, he joined my campaign team for the 2008 presidential elections. He did significant work during the campaign, which he continued actively with substantial articles published while in exile and imprisonment. With the same dedication, he participated in the campaign of the Armenian National Congress (ANC) during the parliamentary elections of 2012 and was elected to the National Assembly as part of the same faction. After the establishment of cooperation among ANC, Prosperous Armenia, and Heritage in 2014, he severed his ties with the Congress and resumed his critical stance towards me. All this means that the delusional idea of Pashinyan being my political godchild could only be born in sick minds.

2. It is claimed that Nikol Pashinyan calls me every evening and asks for advice. First, let me remind you that I have met Pashinyan only once after 2012, on July 16 of this year, which was officially announced by the press service of the government of Armenia. After that, I have had no phone conversations or communications with him through intermediaries. On this topic, I find it unnecessary to emphasize the following two points: a. I generally do not have the habit of giving advice, since I believe there is no more pointless activity. When someone does approach me for advice, I simply express my opinion on the issue, nothing more, and b. if some believe that Pashinyan can be guided by advice or dictated something, they are either gravely mistaken or do not know the person at all, or they judge him based on their own inclinations. I have not encountered a more independent and self-sufficient person than Pashinyan.

3. However, the most intensively echoed claim is that Nikol Pashinyan has adopted from me the ‘territories for peace’ formula and is implementing my ‘defeatist’ program for resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. I immediately state that neither I nor Pashinyan have ever used the ‘territories for peace’ formula. This is an absolute lie, concocted by malicious people and manipulators. Regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh resolution program, unlike the three presidents of Armenia, Pashinyan's program is still unknown. He has only settled on some principles regarding the issue, specifically emphasizing the need to abandon the position of negotiating on behalf of Nagorno-Karabakh, as held by the Kocharyan-Sargsyan administrations, and restoring the former status of the NKR as a fully-fledged party to the conflict. It is also necessary to add that whatever program Pashinyan presents regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh resolution, it will be his own program, much like those of both my and Kocharyan's and Sargsyan's cases. Every leader of Armenia is responsible for their program, no matter how much it aligns with the programs of previous leaders.

Read the full article at the source.