Pashinyan's Leap of Thought: MP Blames Peacekeepers for Blocking Access to Artsakh

Member of Parliament and Chair of the Permanent Committee on Human Rights Protection and Public Issues,Taguhi Tovmasyan, returned from Artsakh today, having traveled there on March 22.

In an interview with 24News, she struggled to articulate the reason why members of the ‘Armenia’ and ‘I Have Honor’ factions were barred from entering Artsakh yesterday. “I was in Artsakh during the well-known events in Parukh and Khramort. I don’t know why I wasn’t allowed in. I passed through all possible checkpoints and entered Artsakh without obstacle. I don’t understand what could justify blocking any citizen’s entry, whether they are an MP or not; preventing entry is very concerning,” Tovmasyan emphasized.

Yesterday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia issued a statement expressing concern that “the servicemen of the Russian peacekeeping contingent did not allow a group of MPs from the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia to enter Artsakh.” It stated that “this action contradicts the trilateral statement of November 9, 2020, which stipulates the uninterrupted connection between Artsakh and Armenia through the Lachin corridor. All parties to the statement must strictly adhere to its letter and spirit, as well as fulfill their obligations.”

In response to the Ministry’s statement, Tovmasyan remarked that this is yet another political leap by Nikol Pashinyan, where “other parties are always to blame for any issue, but never Pashinyan himself; therefore, in this case, ‘the peacekeepers are at fault, but not the Armenian authorities.’”

“Isn’t it the National Security Service of the Republic of Armenia that is compiling a list of MPs and sending it to the appropriate place? Where this ‘appropriate place’ is and from where the directive has been issued that MPs should not enter Artsakh, the ‘head of the dog’ is buried right there, as they say,” the MP concluded.