‘Vazgen Manukyan and Nikol Pashinyan are twins’: Ter-Petrosyan calls on the public

The first President of Armenia, Levon Ter-Petrosyan, calls on the public not to participate in the mass provocations incited by both the ruling authorities and the opposition. He warns that these provocations pose a severe threat not only of civil war but also regarding the uncontrollable spread of the coronavirus. Ter-Petrosyan made this call in an article published on Ilur.am.

He expressed that a rally led by opposition Prime Minister candidate Vazgen Manukyan heightened his fears of civil war looming over the country. The following statements made by Manukyan during his speech were the basis of this concern: “Pashinyan has to understand that the sooner he resigns voluntarily, the better. If the movement fails, the enraged people will shred him to pieces,” and “Pashinyan must leave. He should either go voluntarily, or he will be forced out.”

“With this, Manukyan outlines two paths for Pashinyan's departure: voluntarily or forcibly. The terms 'shred' and 'forced out' imply nothing other than violence. If these were mere words, we wouldn’t have to worry too much. However, the disgusting act of the mass rally led by Manukyan surrounding the Prime Minister's residence for half an hour, along with threatening Pashinyan's family, is nothing but an overt demonstration of readiness for violence,” Ter-Petrosyan wrote.

He pointed out that if this were the position of only one of the conflicting parties, it would not pose such a great danger. However, Manukyan inadvertently ignores that the same stance has also been adopted by the opposing side, Pashinyan’s camp. According to the first President, Pashinyan’s behavior and rhetoric indicate that he has no intention of leaving voluntarily and is ready for any confrontation. Therefore, if both sides are resolute, then a clash is inevitable.

Ter-Petrosyan remarked, “Isn’t it clear that, although not in terms of intellect, in their character, stubbornness, adventurous tendencies, and obsession to go all the way, Vazgen Manukyan and Nikol Pashinyan are twins? Has the public forgotten that both have vast experience in storming the parliament, which they ‘successfully’ executed in 1996 and 2018? In 2018, Serzh Sargsyan yielded, and the Republican Party of Armenia, which was his political stronghold, transferred power to Nikol Pashinyan through ostensibly legal means.”

According to Ter-Petrosyan, this regrettably thwarted another opportunity for a negotiated settlement regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, as Sargsyan was ready to sign the Lavrov plan immediately after his re-election, which would have been considered a significant victory compared to the trilateral statement signed by Pashinyan.

Ter-Petrosyan believes that Manukyan’s idea of gathering significant strength against Turkey is dangerous, as the world will not forgive Turkey for its audacity, and if a coalition against Turkey is being created, Armenia should be part of that coalition. “Surely, doesn’t Manukyan understand that by expressing readiness to join any yet-to-be-formed anti-Turkish coalition, we oppose the already established thorough understanding between Russia and Turkey? This means we are throwing down the gauntlet not only to Turkey but also to our friend Russia,” the first President wrote.

He concluded his remarks by stating that Pashinyan's regime must go immediately and unconditionally, but not through internal clashes, rather exclusively through constitutional means. Ter-Petrosyan also hopes that our intellectuals will at least once speak out with a sobering message.

It is worth noting that yesterday, 17 opposition parties and their Prime Minister candidate Vazgen Manukyan organized a rally in Freedom Square, where Manukyan delivered a speech.