For 3 Years, Nikol Has Maintained Power with Such News: Karen Vrtanesyan

Karen Vrtanesyan, the coordinator of the specialized website Razminfo, has made a post on his Facebook page regarding a sensational announcement by the National Security Service (NSS) about unprecedented state betrayal.

He writes: “Two days ago, Nikol promised sensational revelations from the NSS regarding state betrayal during the war, and today they published a 15-minute material. Essentially, there are 3 main points in this material:

1. The NSS’s recounting of what happened. They claim that two individuals, one military and one civilian, traveled to Turkey, established contact with Azerbaijani intelligence services, and agreed to transfer secret information about military and other facilities in Armenia (including Artsakh) to the enemy in exchange for payment. One of them was a commander of a volunteer detachment during the war and continued to relay information to the enemy.
2. There is a somewhat strange video where at least two people are sitting and discussing (presumably the accused) how they duped the Azerbaijanis, took the money, but did not transfer any information; now the Azerbaijanis are threatening to publish something discrediting, showing how these two were sitting in the Azerbaijani embassy in Turkey. They speak of some paper they signed, in which they expressed their support for peace between our countries, etc.
3. There is also a video confession from one of the presumed criminals, admitting that he was indeed a spy, transmitted information during the war, is a traitor, and had asked for $20,000, but was given only $4,500.

Now let’s try to understand what the sensation is in all this.

Is it extraordinary or unexpected that the intelligence services of an enemy country are attempting and sometimes succeeding in recruiting citizens of Armenia to obtain secret information? No, there is nothing extraordinary or unexpected in this.

Is it unexpected that there could be spies or people recruited by the enemy within the military during wartime? Again, no. This is a completely normal working process for both us and the enemy. They recruit spies, we uncover them (not always, unfortunately).

Does this in any way mitigate or justify the failure of Armenia's military-political leadership in all directions before, during, and after the war? Does this case of ordinary treachery (if everything is indeed as presented in the NSS video, and not staged) in any way excuse the disbandment of the army, the failure of mobilization, and the handing over of strategic positions to the enemy in 'understanding'? What is the reason for the release of this video today, on the official start of the pre-election campaign? I believe it is clear to anyone capable of thinking that this is merely an electoral show, an attempt to divert the media space for 24 hours, in which the NSS is also participating. For 3 years, Nikol has kept power filled with such news every day.”