Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Tuesday accused leaders of ongoing protests against his government’s decision to cede territories to Azerbaijan of inciting and provoking war, claiming that their aim is to topple his regime.
He told a press conference on Tuesday that the border delimitation process with Azerbaijan was initiated from the Tavush Province in order to prevent war, saying that the international community had signaled that war would be prevented by ceding the four villages.
“If we halt the [delimitation] process, war will break out,” Pashinyan warned, saying he believes that the protesters’ goal was to provoke war.
“The forces that are demanding a halt to the border delimitation — with the help of some external forces — will do everything so that more territories of Armenia are occupied and use that for affecting political changes in Armenia,” Pashinyan said, adding that the protesters wanted to install a “puppet government,” which he hinted would be controlled by Russia.
Despite opposition and legitimate concerns voiced by the local population in Tavush, the Armenian government on April 19 agreed to cede the four villages to Azerbaijan, without any guarantees from Baku of the return of Armenian territories being occupied by Azerbaijan.
Days after the decision authorities began installing posts on the “new” borders, kicking off the demarcation process that was, for years, being negotiated, sparking the current “Tavush for the Homeland” movement.
Pashinyan on Tuesday called the newly-installed border posts the pillars of Armenia’s security.
“The border posts are being installed on legal basis and will become a security guarantee for the people of Voskepar, Kirants, Berkaber, Baghanis and the Republic of Armenia in general,” said Pashinyan, claiming that Armenia existed as a country for decades without security guarantees.
He went on to promise that, after the border delimitation and demarcation process, Armenia will not lose any part of its “29,743 square kilometers” of territory.
“I am sure that after a year, this number will not undergo any changes, and the uniqueness of this number is in that, because it rests on the pillar of legitimacy. And we understand that we need to create security guarantees for Armenia and we create security guarantees for Armenia. It is happening in front of all of your eyes,” said Pashinyan.
The post Pashinyan Accuses Tavush Protesters of Inciting War first appeared on The South Caucasus News.