The elections have already taken place, what does the opposition want now? The deputy of the Armenia faction, NA vice-speaker Ishkhan Saghatelyan answered this question of the authorities at the May 3 press conference. “He reproduced himself by cheating in the elections, he promised the people security, peace, stability. Nine months have passed, there is no peace, there is no security, the enemy continues the aggression against the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia, it is in our territory at a depth of 42 km, we have casualties and losses. Now, one more thing has been added to all this: he says that we must lower the bar of self-determination of Artsakh’s independence, that is, he is leaving Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan. But in his election program he did not talk about it, on the contrary, he talked about self-determination. Therefore, they are not legitimate, and the constitutional right of the citizens of Armenia is to take to the streets and oust from power those people who are once again trying to lead the country to capitulation.”
To the question, what is your proposal, what do you suggest, are you in power, the international community, which today expects a lowering of the bar on the status of Artsakh, will not have that expectation, what is your solution in the Artsakh issue, Ishkhan Saghatelyan answered, “First of all, as the international community says, the international community does not say such a thing. That is what Aliyev and Erdogan say, and he is cheating there as well. When the international community sees that a kneeling and defeated leader represents the country, they talk to that person. We say, dear people, there is a way out, it is possible and it will not bring a new war. We never say that we are coming to declare war on Turkey and Azerbaijan, stop the negotiations or bring a new war. On the contrary, we say we are coming to bring a dignified peace. Nikol says we do not have an army, the international community wants something, everything is over. We also say that in very difficult situations throughout our history, I often cite the example of 1992 and 1998, our people have shown that it is possible not to give up and develop peacefully. You say it is not possible, we say it is possible.”
The journalists clarified that if you come to power, what will you do, what will be your steps, Ishkhan Saghatelyan answered, “Effective management, restoration of the army armament, restoration of the army. Let me give a very specific example: in the city of Yerevan they are engaged in the election of the mayor of Yerevan, they have announced from several billion state funds and loans that alleys and elevators will be built, but our country is at war.
Should the state expenditures of our country be reviewed and directed towards defense? But they are not interested in that, they are interested in making Tigran Avinyan mayor of Yerevan, not keeping Vardenis, Syunik, and Artsakh. The problem is that they do not have that will, they are guided by the logic of the surrendered. Why don’t we have a head of the General Staff? We have a country at war. They go to Brussels in foreign policy, they say one thing, they say one thing in Moscow, that is, they are incapable, even if they want to. We say that there should be professional people, a government of worthy people should be formed, who are able to take this responsibility, to change the course of the country. It is possible. In 1992, the whole world was against us, but the country’s parliament made a decision, Artsakh united, and people went to fight. Our citizens are constantly intimidated by the war. They say it is not possible, we say it is possible, let it go.”
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When we said that they also said that it is possible, we are working in that direction, Ishkhan Saghatelyan countered, “What is Ruben Rubinyan discussing with Turkey today? We lose every day after November 9, right? This man says, let’s have a mirror withdrawal of the troops, this man says the Armenian territories are Azerbaijani, he donates, how can our citizens expect that? The citizens of Armenia must leave for their own safety. He is giving away the country piece by piece.”
Ishkhan Saghatelyan urged citizens to imagine, if suddenly Aliyev attacked again, what would we do? If Pashinyan stayed and answered, we are defeated, right?
Hripsime Jebejyan
