Prime Minister Discusses His Controversial Post

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan addressed his Facebook post from last night during an online press conference, which had sparked various comments. He stated, “Responses to yesterday’s post showed how manipulative mechanisms operate, especially during this tense period.”

Pashinyan read his post, explaining it sentence by sentence: “You are aware that volunteers and soldiers at the frontline are recording videos and speaking words of support towards the Government, providing certain evaluations and analyses. In the next sentence, I express my amazement at the depth of understanding from the boys. Then I say, ‘Guys, you are right, I agree with many comments, and I am waiting for you in Yerevan.’ This sentence has given many grounds to say that there is a call for civil war and confrontations,” the Prime Minister mentioned, adding that he will organize a meeting with the boys returning from the border.

Pashinyan analyzed the next sentence regarding finally addressing the issues of those trembling under walls, noting that official bodies had used this expression in their statements: “This means that after the soldiers return from the frontline, the discussions that are very actively circulating regarding whether Armenia's military-political leadership has been involved in conspiracies, etc., will be completely put to rest. Who, if not the soldier who was at the frontline, knows the answer to this question? By the way, none of the soldiers returning from the frontline come back armed. Special checkpoints are set up,” Pashinyan added.

Reflecting on the unrest that occurred in Yerevan on the night of November 9-10, the Prime Minister recalled that political forces did not condemn these actions. Pashinyan emphasized, “Even the Human Rights Defender of Armenia did not condemn it; rather, it was condemned by the soldiers standing at the border. Of course, we must exclude hate speech in Armenia and prevent civil confrontations. What civil war, what are you talking about, who is even discussing this? Armenia’s law enforcement system has sufficient capacity to prevent such things. And why was all this not prevented on the night of November 9-10? For a very simple reason: the police forces, the NSS, and even a significant part of the State Protection Service were at the frontline,” Pashinyan stated.