Grigori Hayrapetyan Would Not Have Allowed an Azerbaijani Blogger into the Armenian Church, Says Alik Sargsyan

There are general security measures that, if understood, would have prevented the Azerbaijani from entering the Armenian church in Milan. This was stated by former Chief of Police Alik Sargsyan in an interview with Tert.am, referring to the entrance of an Azerbaijani blogger to the location of a meeting with representatives of the Armenian community and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on November 20 at the Holy Forty Martyrs Armenian Apostolic Church in Milan.

“Such incidents and provocations involving the country’s prime minister should be brought to an unbearable level. I think that if Grigori Hayrapetyan were at the Armenian church in Milan, the Azerbaijani would not have entered; he was seasoned and prepared. How could they have allowed that person to enter an Armenian church, especially during a meeting with the prime minister? Why did he need to enter and ask such provocative questions to the prime minister, who then had to explain and comment? For him, it was quite significant to ask questions of the country’s prime minister. Imagine how difficult it would be for our journalists to approach the President of Azerbaijan and ask questions,” stated Alik Sargsyan.

In response to the question of what they could have done if the prime minister asked them to let it go, Sargsyan replied, “What else could he have said? If he arrived and was in front of them, I don’t think they should have tied his hands and feet and thrown him out. I repeat, they simply should not have allowed him to enter, so that he could not ask for land. That explanation, and any interaction with an Azerbaijani, should not have occurred either. For me, the contact was very alien and incomprehensible. Do you not think that he could have done something to reduce the country’s reputation to zero? An Azerbaijani troublemaker, be he a blogger or an intelligence officer, why should he do something like that in an Armenian church? It’s a matter of the country’s reputation; provocations could be organized on the street to show that such events are happening with the country’s prime minister. So why do people go around with bodyguards, to exclude such incidents? If something had happened there with the prime minister, then what? Would you have conducted an official investigation, and who would you accuse? He would have gone to Azerbaijan, been celebrated, and received medals. He could even have entered with a weapon,” he noted.

Alik Sargsyan said that additional explanations should be provided, and Nikol Pashinyan should follow up on this matter. “If such incidents occur one or two more times, I will draw different conclusions,” he concluded.