13:21, 24 September 2023
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 24, ARMENPRESS. The Azerbaijani attacks against Armenia over the past years have lead to the obvious conclusion that Armenia’s external security systems are ineffective in terms of national interests and security, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has said.
In an address to the nation on Sunday, PM Pashinyan said that a number of developments over the past years have led to the imperative of making assessments, re-assessments and conclusions.
Below is the transcript of PM Pashinyan’s speech as published by his office.
“Dear people, dear compatriots,
A number of events that have taken place in recent years have forced all of us to evaluate, re-evaluate the situation, and draw conclusions. What happened in Armenia, what is happening and what should happen? These are the questions the answer to which is strategic for the future.
The attacks undertaken by Azerbaijan against the Republic of Armenia in recent years lead to an obvious conclusion that the external security systems in which we are involved are not effective for the state interests and security of the Republic of Armenia. This was seen both during the 44-day war and during the May and November events in 2021, as well as in September 2022, and this list goes on.
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A lightning military operation, lasting barely twenty-four hours, has put an end to the dream of an independent Nagorno Karabakh. This was announced by the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, after proclaiming the “reintegration” into the country of the entire region, inhabited until now by slightly more than 120,000 people, mainly ethnic Armenians. Since December 2022 the enclave had been completely encircled following the blockade by Azeri troops and activists of the Lachin corridor, the territory’s only connection to Armenia.
The security of the road had been taken over by Russia, which had erected interposition troops and aspired to mediation work. Absorbed in its energies by the war it was waging against Ukraine, Russia neglected to pay attention to this commitment, all the more so since the Kremlin had warned of Armenia’s pro-Western fickleness with the consequent cooling of relations with Moscow.
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