“I Can Prove That I Did Not Promise a Corridor” - Pashinyan

During a Q&A session in the National Assembly, Sisak Gabrielyan, a member of the "Civil Contract" faction, asked Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan about the main conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. He inquired, "You mention about 29,800 square kilometers and the dialogue between Baku and Stepanakert; can you, while maintaining political correctness and the confidentiality of diplomatic negotiations, explain that?"

The Prime Minister responded, "What is the conflict? Azerbaijan considers the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh to be its internal matter and will not discuss it with anyone. Is this a result of our poor and incompetent politics? It could be, yes or no. In 2017, Serzh Sargsyan was asked what the problem was, and he gave the same answer."

According to Pashinyan, the next issue is that Azerbaijan speaks of some corridor. "Our opposition, instead of asking, ‘What corridor are you talking about?’ says, ‘We have been told that a corridor should be given, but now it is not being fulfilled, and we have these problems.’ I can prove that I never promised a corridor. I do not understand this approach, but they say, ‘There is room; we have reliable people; they said a promise was made,’ and they develop narratives. Azerbaijan talks about Western Azerbaijan, stating that Azerbaijanis lived in the territory of Armenia, and there were also Armenians living in Nakhichevan, Baku, and Sumgayit,” Pashinyan noted.

Pashinyan pointed out that there is mutual distrust and emphasized the need to understand how to overcome it. "But here, it is also essential to consider the issue of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh and the guarantees of their security."