Vazgen Manukyan: In the 1990s, in two and a half years, we formed an  army from scratch, while the new government lost all allies in the  same amount of time and failed negotiations

ArmInfo.A rally-march of representatives of the Armenian opposition began on Freedom Square in Yerevan. They intend to march to St. Gregory the Illuminator Church, where a memorial service will be held for servicemen killed in  Artsakh.

During the rally, opposition candidate for Prime Minister Vazgen  Manukyan stated that today is the day of remembrance of those who  defended the borders and honor of Armenia at the cost of their lives.  "I was familiar with many participants in the first Artsakh war. They  all had one dream that Armenia would become a strong country and that  Artsakh would be free. They wanted to be proud of their country.  Those guys who passed away during the 44-day war had the same dream.

We could have avoided this war. One should have the talent not to  fail the negotiations, not to lose all the allies, not to constantly  irritate the enemy with your behavior. We could have won the war, but  for this it was necessary to carry out a number of works that were  not carried out. They say that two and a half years is not enough to  achieve such a result. In the 1990s we formed a powerful army from  scratch and Azerbaijan suffered a shameful defeat.

If we were not ready and lost, peace could have been concluded  earlier and thousands of Armenian soldiers would have returned home.  We would have suffered fewer losses, the war is over, but we are yet  surrendering our territories. If this goes on, we are looking from  the international map of the world," said Manukyan.

The prime minister candidate stressed that Armenia won the first  Artsakh war. More and more countries recognized the Armenian  Genocide, everyone understood that Armenia should be respected.   <However, Nikol Pashinyan nullified all our achievements. But I  believe we will be able to overcome all obstacles and regain our  former glory, but for this the current government must resign,"  Manukyan concluded.