“Specific groups criticized the decision to close Tsitsernakaberd, saying that it was a decision made by an anti-national, pro-Turkish government to force us to forget our past. Such ridiculousness was expressed. We presented a new approach that was different from the old “kickback” approach. They provided us with “kickbacks” under the guise of commemoration events,” Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said during his Facebook live video about the online remembrance of the Armenian Genocide and the decision to prohibit citizens from visiting Tsitsernakaberd to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
According to Pashinyan, “For more than 25 years, they made our nation miserable and stole from it while making nationalist statements. I do not believe those people who issue nationalist statements while taking advantage of acceptable services who also consider national humiliation, theft of millions, and money laundering to be legitimate. Although the events to commemorate April 24th this year were not flawless, they represented our understanding of nationalism. Even more, we understood that, if we do not use elements from this year’s commemorations in the future, we will have lowered our standards. I hope that we will not be dealing with the coronavirus next year and we will be able to go on a pilgrimage to Tsitsernakaberd.”
Luiza Sukiasyan
