Iravunk: What Did Pashinyan and the ARF Discuss?

The newspaper 'Iravunk' reports: Representatives of the ARF calling for a boycott of the constitutional amendments referendum recently met with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. In a conversation with 'Iravunk', the newly appointed press secretary of the Prime Minister, Mane Gevorgyan, stated that the initiative for the meeting, which was attended by ARF Bureau representative Hakob Ter-Khachaturyan, ARF Supreme Body representative Ishkhan Saghatelyan, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, and the Chief Commissioner on Diaspora Affairs Zareh Sinanyan, did not belong to any side.

'Iravunk' was unable to clarify how the parties decided to meet, who sent the invitation, whether they met on the street and made a gentleman's agreement to gather, or whether at least one side had something to discuss or talk about.

'During the meeting, opinions were exchanged on issues of pan-Armenian and regional significance,' Mane Gevorgyan noted in our conversation.

Ishkhan Saghatelyan, the representative of the ARF Supreme Body, provided the same response in a conversation with 'Iravunk', again not clarifying who initiated the meeting. He assured that they did not discuss any domestic political issues.

'Isn't it curious that a representative of a party that criticizes government actions meets with the Prime Minister?' we asked. 'Not at all, and if we can use our potential for the benefit of Armenia, we must definitely be useful, but that doesn’t mean we divert from our political agenda or are constrained in criticizing various local political matters,' he emphasized.

The meeting of the ARF members with Pashinyan carries a clear message aimed at countering the thesis thrown into the public domain by the authorities that there are disagreements between domestic and foreign members of the ARF regarding their attitude toward the Armenian government. It is unclear what the logic behind Zareh Sinanyan's presence at the meeting was, if, according to Saghatelyan and the Prime Minister's spokesperson, only regional issues were discussed.

Additionally, Sinanyan met with Hakob Ter-Khachaturyan about two weeks ago, so what new agenda could have been discussed?

Against this backdrop, attention is drawn to the recent meeting between Catholicos Aram I of Cilicia and the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Lebanon, Vaghin Atabekyan, during which, according to our information, the Catholicos expressed dissatisfaction with Sinanyan's operational style. It is not excluded that the work style of the Commissioner on Diaspora Affairs was also a topic of discussion during the ARF-Pashinyan meeting.

For more details, see today’s issue of the newspaper.