We Had Different Perceptions on Artsakh, the Military, and Internal Security: Vanetsyan on Pashinyan

In the summer of 2019, I had already made the decision to resign, which I informed Nikol Pashinyan about multiple times, and in September, my resignation was announced. This was stated by the former head of the National Security Service (NSS) and leader of the ‘I Have Honor’ faction in the National Assembly, Artur Vanetsyan, in an interview broadcast on CivilNet. He noted that there were different perceptions regarding Artsakh, the military, and the country's internal security when it came to Nikol Pashinyan.

“The result of all this was the 44-day war in Artsakh and the consequences we see today,” said Artur Vanetsyan. He also mentioned that there were disagreements regarding Nikol Pashinyan's statement made in Stepanakert: 'Artsakh is Armenia, and that’s it.' He emphasized that he did not agree with that statement and asked Nikol Pashinyan to refrain from making such declarations in the future.

Addressing his earlier statement made while still serving as NSS director—that the territories of Artsakh would not only remain with us but would also be resettled—Vanetsyan clarified that it was made during a closed-format discussion. “If you see the quality of the video from that meeting, you will understand that it is not a professional recording. Later, we found out that it was filmed by the personal operator of Bako Sahakyan with his phone. I made that statement in a closed format among the military-political leadership of Artsakh and the heads of Armenia's security agencies. It was not meant for public disclosure, but it was also not that we thought differently. However, I was not a political figure; I was a soldier, a general, who, of course, should make such a statement. Foreign policy is determined by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Prime Minister, and they must be very careful in their statements and understand the consequences of all declarations,” Vanetsyan said.