VIDEO: 'They recognized Armenia as part of Azerbaijan' - MPs rushed to correct Pashinyan

“Some people accuse us of recognizing Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan. I want to clarify whether any authority of Armenia has recognized Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan and which authority did that. Yes, the Republic of Armenia recognized Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan and this was done under the authorship of Vardan Oskanyan, because at the moment when Armenia accepted the Madrid Principles as the basis for negotiations, from that moment on, it recognized Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan,” said Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan during a Q&A session in the National Assembly.

“Now there is no need to make hysterical statements. Moreover, I will say that it was Vardan Oskanyan who publicly recognized the Republic of Armenia as an occupier,” Pashinyan continued. “These statements may be something we will never overcome because back then it was not just Vardan Oskanyan and Robert Kocharian who recognized Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan, but it was the Republic of Armenia that recognized Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan. Let them not have tearful or boastful speeches. And this happened in 2007.”

In this segment of his speech, Nikol Pashinyan made a slip of the tongue, saying, “Serzh Sargsyan and Edward Nalbandyan also recognized Armenia as part of Azerbaijan.” MPs rushed to correct the Prime Minister. Pashinyan continued, “Karabakh... Karabakh, that’s still something, it’s not just a slip of the tongue, there are deeper issues here if I understood correctly what I said.”

For more details, watch the video.