Why Did You Put Mirzoyan in an Uncomfortable Position? A Question to Pashinyan

At the UN Security Council meeting, when Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan was presenting the atrocities committed by Azerbaijani soldiers, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov also referred to statements you made, indicating that you said civilian lives were not at risk. Why did you put Mirzoyan in an uncomfortable position? A journalist asked Pashinyan during a press conference.

“I was meeting with experts, and from the outset, one of them said, ‘I know why you made such a statement,’ and he added, ‘It’s obvious to me that you made that statement to create an opportunity for the Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh to remain there.’ I replied, ‘You are absolutely correct.’ I could see that everything was being done to get the Armenians out of Nagorno-Karabakh as soon as possible. My message was that there should be no thought of leaving immediately. I stated that this scenario of leaving is always present. At that moment, the military operations had ceased, which does not mean that we have changed our political assessment of the threat of ethnic cleansing,’ he said.

According to Pashinyan, he does not recall any reports of killings among the civilian population in Nagorno-Karabakh following his statement.