The Statement on Artsakh Could Only Be Obtained at a Point Where It Was Possible: Lena Nazaryan

On September 27, when Nikol Pashinyan came to the National Assembly, he stated that we could halt this war and outlined the conditions—return of 7 regions, return of refugees, with no mention of clarifying the status of Nagorno-Karabakh. Territories in exchange for peace. I want to remind that at that time, no political force agreed to this scenario, there was no public demand to halt the war, and no one took to the streets to demand that it be stopped.

This was announced by the Vice Speaker of the National Assembly, Lena Nazaryan, during a broadcast of Public TV. “When the Prime Minister made his first official visit to Stepanakert, he said that our task was to increase the security of Artsakh and Armenia. At that time, he was aware that there were two options—agree to these conditions or go to war. I believe that the Prime Minister himself did not consider it fair or beneficial for our people to agree to those conditions,” the deputy said.

In response to the remark that it is claimed the authorities could have halted the war earlier in the 44 days, in which case Shushi would not have been surrendered and casualties would have been fewer, Lena Nazaryan replied, “The statement could only be obtained and published at a point where it was possible.” When asked whether this meant that it was not possible before that, Lena Nazaryan responded, “No, I believe it was not possible.”

In response to the claim by critics of the government that the authorities lost, regardless of whether they committed treason or not, and mentioned that the force which signed such a document should leave, and snap elections should take place, the Vice Speaker responded that no one is saying that snap elections are unnecessary. “We are not saying that snap elections are unnecessary; we are saying that conditions are necessary for snap elections,” she stated.