Are There Deputies Closer to Armenian Interests Than I Am? Konstantin Zatulin

«Hraparak» newspaper reports: “Prime Minister Pashinyan’s family-owned newspaper, ‘Haykakan Zhamanak’, published a sensational piece of information yesterday: The entry of Konstantin Zatulin, Chairman of the State Duma’s Commission for CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration, and Relations with Compatriots, has been banned in the Republic of Armenia. According to some experts, this step could end Armenian-Russian warm relations. ‘We have been following Pashinyan's evolution for a long time and can now state that he has reached a logical point where Russia no longer needs him,’ says political scientist Modest Kolerov, characterizing the incident as an act of political censorship and dictatorship.

As a reason, the Prime Minister’s newspaper mentions that in his interviews, Zatulin blamed the Armenian leadership for the loss in the 44-day war and, ‘interfering in Armenia's internal politics,’ stated that Pashinyan should resign, also accusing the Prime Minister of signing a ‘corridor’ across Armenia’s sovereign territory. Incidentally, the next meeting of the Lazarev Club, founded and presided over by Zatulin, was scheduled to take place on October 28. On October 24, Zatulin sent a letter to Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan, requesting permission for club members to visit Jermuk. ‘The Russian participants of the meeting are very interested in getting acquainted with the situation in Jermuk and its vicinity concerning the advances of Azerbaijani armed forces. We ask for your support for my and the participants' visit to Jermuk, for one day, which will take place on October 29 (the anticipated number of participants is 50, on two buses). The organization of the visit and transport costs will be covered by the Lazarev Club,’ Zatulin wrote in the letter.

Zatulin is a figure through whom the Russian State Duma adopted the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, and no Russian figure has raised Armenian issues at various platforms more frequently than Zatulin. Therefore, he considers this move not only an insult directed at him. We posed some questions to Konstantin Zatulin.

- Why should our authorities be afraid that the participants of the Lazarev Club visit Jermuk?

- I think Jermuk is merely a supplement. The main topic that they found extremely undesirable at this moment is the subject that we are supposed to discuss on Friday, the 28th: ‘Historical Past and the Present of Armenian-Russian Relations.’ Currently, they can hardly boast of warm relations after it has become evident that they have clearly shifted the country’s course towards the West and are supporting attempts to exclude Russia from the peace process, at the moment when Russian peacekeepers are preserving the lives and serenity of Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh. At that moment, they certainly do not want to discuss such topics. It is doubly insulting that our invitation was met with such a response. After all, we publicly invited Mr. Simonian, his deputy, Foreign Minister Mirzoyan, and the former Speaker of the National Assembly to participate in our club meeting. Hoping that they would present their version regarding the current phase of Armenian-Russian relations, we were ready to listen to them.

- Why was the response so rude, what were they trying to say? They could have simply banned you from visiting Jermuk.

- That question is for them. I just want to ask: is it possible that there are deputies closer to Armenia and Armenian interests who speak more frequently about Armenian-Russian relations, the necessity of supporting Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh? If there are such deputies, it is not surprising that I am being banned. Perhaps there is someone else whose report led to Russia recognizing the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire in 1995. Let them say.

- What will happen to the club? Will the meeting take place or not?

- Today, I asked the Armenian and Russian members of the club’s council to hold an online meeting at 18:30. During that meeting, we will try to determine what we will do. We have already paid for charter flights, we were prepared to fly, I fear that Russian participants will not come.

- Nevertheless, what could be dangerous in the discussion for our authorities? Perhaps there is some operational question which many do not know about, and touching it would be undesirable.

- I do not see anything dangerous. On the contrary, I think it would have provided the Armenian authorities with an additional chance to announce, prior to the scheduled meeting between Putin, Aliyev, and Pashinyan on Monday, that they are in favor of developing Armenian-Russian relations. We were offering them a platform to defend their positions there, but they did not want to do this, perhaps they think it is unnecessary.

- As for the document regarding the Syunik corridor, do you think it will be signed?

- I do not know; the issue of the Syunik corridor is one of the matters I hoped to clarify during the visit to Jermuk. I know what kind of debate exists on this issue in Armenia, but judging by your Prime Minister's public statements, in my opinion, he is preparing to sign that Washington declaration.

More details can be found in today’s newspaper.