“I will refrain from commenting on the incumbent Prime Minister anymore because he has shown for a long time, especially in recent months, that he has no awareness of state-national interests. This phrase is one of the latest examples of him speaking in front of everyone and the world as an ordinary commentator who has a personal point of view that coincides with the views of opposing neighbors,” Raffi Hovannisian, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia, mentioned in a briefing with journalists during the protest demanding the resignation of Nikol Pashinyan and the salvation of Armenia and Artsakh on April 21, referring to the statement of the Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan that the international community demands lowering the bar on the status of Artsakh.
According to Raffi Hovannisian, the international community is so multi-layered and changeable that the Prime Minister cannot make the mentioned assertion. “A part of that international community is a mediator. Artsakh has already exercised its right to self-determination. It is clear that the OSCE mandate was given to the co-chairs. Saying to the international community, he made a deviant expression, he wants to mislead his own citizens. It is impossible for the international community to say such a thing.
Even if several countries have such an opinion, the Armenian people have their own interests, and if it does not correspond to the interests of Azerbaijan or Turkey’s allies, it does not mean that we must obey it. If such things are said, it is a reflection of the weak leadership of this government, that it led the people to defeat and deprivation of the homeland.” Raffi Hovannisian stressed that in thirty years different countries have presented different positions, but especially the co-chairs have no right to express any substantive point of view that can predetermine the negotiation process or the final result. “It is not part of their mandate.”
Luiza Sukiasyan
