Armenia’s former Ombudsman Arman Tatoyan says Nikol Pashinyan's latest statements in the parliament are “extremely dangerous” for both Armenia and Artsakh.
“Statements of the kind, which stem from narrow political interests and are baseless, simply undermine Armenia’s security system,” he wrote on Facebook on Thursday.
Addressing the parliament on Wednesday, Pashinyan said that "all friends of Armenia" were and are waiting for Armenia to "lower the bar” on the issue of Artsakh's status. He expressed regret for not sharing details of the Nagorno-Karabakh negotiation process with the Armenian people in 2018 and 2019.
"In order to cover up their mistakes and prevent discontent, various senior Armenian officials justified and legitimized the deployment of Azerbaijani troops near our villages and on roads," Tatoyan said.
He accused the Armenian authorities of making statements conceding Armenia’s territorial rights to Azerbaijan, thus ignoring the security and the right to life of the Armenian and Artsakh people.
“These officials have consistently nullified the fundamental historical theses, starting from the fact that the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan has nothing to do with Artsakh. They ignore the fact that Baku's state doctrine considers a large part of Armenia as "historical territory of Azerbaijan" and a policy of hatred comparable to fascism is pursued against Armenians,” the ex-ombudsman said.
“All this has untied Baku's hands in the international arena and provided an opportunity to strengthen its position at the expense of false theses.”
Tatoyan condemned the promotion of the so-called "peace agenda" by the Armenian government amid Azerbaijan’s threats and criminal acts against Armenians.
“As a result, it turned out to be implemented at the expense of the rights and dignity of Armenians only because there are officials in Armenia who put their political interests and positions above the security of the country,” he stressed.
"Therefore, such statements by the head of the government or any other official have no legitimacy and cannot be put at the core of protecting the interests of our people," Tatoyan said.