During the Government session, Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan emphasized that Azerbaijan's unpunished violations of internationally agreed agreements encourage that country to engage in new provocations.
“Such a monstrous provocation happened yesterday, when the Azerbaijani side killed Arshak Seryozha Sargsyan, a soldier of Armenia’s Armed Forces, with a targeted sniper shot. Expressing my condolences to the parents and relatives of the killed conscript, I draw the attention of the international community to the obvious fact that Azerbaijan is developing the situation to a new escalation.
This is further substantiated by the absurd speech of Azerbaijan at the state level, the so-called Western Azerbaijan, which is an open act of encroachment on the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia,” he said.
According to Pashinyan, this speech once again shows that the Government of Armenia has read Azerbaijan's messages correctly from the very beginning, and the reason for the non-resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is the continuous policy and speech questioning the right of Armenia to exist.
“Azerbaijan has made a new accusation against Armenia that Armenia is a mono-ethnic country and there are allegedly no national minorities in Armenia. First of all, such formulations are a gross interference in the internal affairs of the Republic of Armenia, and not only there are national minorities in Armenia, but they are also represented and have mandates at the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, and this is guaranteed by the Constitution.
And if speaking on such topics is not an interference in the internal affairs of the country, then let's record that in Azerbaijan persecutions against not only the press, the opposition, but also the representatives of national minorities have a systemic nature.
The international press is flooded with materials telling about the murders and imprisonments of the leaders who protect the interests of national minorities in Azerbaijan. In addition, many cases are told by witnesses, tortured, persecuted activists or family members of murdered activists.
Azerbaijan may show good will and establish parliamentary quotas for national minorities in the Milli Mejlis and guarantee it by the Constitution,” he said.
