Nairi Hoktikyan Promises to Publicly Refute His Statement, Considering Legal Action if He Fails to Do So

The former spokesperson of Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Armenia's Ambassador to Ukraine, Vladimir Karapetyan, commented to Civic.am on journalist Nairi Hoktikyan's statement attributed to him, which contains allegations of state treason. Hoktikyan claimed that in a 2019 conversation with Russian blogger Alexander Lapshin, Karapetyan suggested regarding the surrender of Artsakh: 'Let us sacrifice a few thousand lives, the people will manage well.'

Later, in an alleged conversation with Hoktikyan, Karapetyan supposedly elaborated: 'We are going along the path of friendship with Azerbaijan and Turkey, and we are changing our orientation.'

Commenting on Hoktikyan's statement, Vladimir Karapetyan said, 'This is a lie. I have spoken with him, refuted it, and I am waiting for him to make that refutation public. Lapshin has also published the events of that day, where the information regarding me is close to reality. He promised to publish our conversation,' Karapetyan stated.

When asked whether he intends to take legal action against Hoktikyan for potential defamation in his statements, Karapetyan replied, 'I will see what he publishes, how he publishes it, and then I will make a decision. I have asked him to refute it and say on my behalf that this is false and does not correspond to reality. Now I am waiting for him to publish it; if he does, I will make a corresponding decision.'

Additionally, Alexander Lapshin commented on Hoktikyan's statement on his Facebook page, writing, 'I find it incomprehensible how he was guided when he published this article, mentioning my name and conversations I was never a part of. Everything that happened during our meeting, I wrote above. I cannot be held responsible for Nairi's other statements and judgments.'

It is noted that in a conversation earlier, Gohar Abrahamyan, an advisor to the Prosecutor General of Armenia, reported that the Prosecutor's Office is examining the statements made by Nairi Hoktikyan and Alexander Lapshin. Attempts were made to clarify whether Nairi Hoktikyan would refute his statements, but he did not respond to phone calls.