Pashinyan accuses opposition of undermining peace process: 'They call me pro-Turkish and pro-Azerbaijani…'

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, speaking today in parliament, once again criticized the opposition.

'And now they are pushing the narrative that I am pro-Turkish and pro-Azerbaijani. These people say they are not against peace. They have never been against peace, they just discussed this peace thousands of kilometers away from the region—in Moscow, in Brussels, in Key West, and so on.'

'I repeat once again: yes, we have long-term and guaranteed peace with Australia. But peace is peace only if you have it in your region. How do you imagine peace by seeking it outside the region? That is war! We had the courage to go and start talking,' the prime minister was quoted as saying by Armenian Telegram channels.

'They also say: this means Pashinyan has agreements. And? Isn’t it obvious that we have agreements? Of course we do, moreover, they are already signed, initialed, and some are even ratified. That’s the point—their entire policy is against these agreements, which are the foundation of peace and stability, and if this foundation is removed, peace and stability will be destroyed. There are no threats here; this is simple, obvious logic!'

'And yes, in these elections, the people must support peace in this sense, so that it is clear that the people of the Republic of Armenia support this policy and are the owners of this policy.'

'At the same time, I emphasize that I have never had and do not have any agreements other than those publicly announced!'

'The whole point is this—all agreements have been reached and published! ... They shouted that we wouldn’t let them see the text of the peace treaty, threatened us with court. Well, we let them see it, and what did they do? They read the text there, then came here and made completely false statements about it! Now this text is published, and when was the last time anyone from the “opposition” came with the text in hand and started discussing something specific from it?' Pashinyan added.