Samvel Babayan Decides Not to Retreat: 'Hraparak'

Despite the dire times in Artsakh, intense internal political processes are underway. The NGO sector has become active, reports 'Hraparak' newspaper.

“The president of the United Homeland party, former commander of the Defense Army Samvel Babayan, is also actively engaging. The day before, he organized another meeting at the Culture Palace in Stepanakert, where he presented his views on the current situation in Artsakh, blaming the former leaders and the current authorities of Artsakh, but not Nikol Pashinyan.

He stated that Azerbaijan had previously disseminated misinformation about Armenians transporting weapons through that route before the installation of the checkpoint, and the authorities of Artsakh should have anticipated that they were preparing the ground for closing the road and should have taken measures, such as installing scanning devices to refute Azerbaijani lies.

Babayan also spoke, albeit not by name, against Ruben Vardanyan, who, according to some reports, is behind the 'No Ethnic Cleansing' initiative. Babayan noted that this petition would yield no results, referencing similar attempts in the 1990s that proved futile.

It is evident that Babayan is vying for the position of Prime Minister, yet the presidential office of Artsakh announced that no position would be offered to him. Nevertheless, Babayan has decided not to retreat, aiming to ensure public consolidation and announce a sit-in protest.