Saturday, January 30 2021 13:29

ArmInfo. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan accused the media of manipulating against the government in connection with his statement about Shushi. So,  during a live broadcast on Facebook, Pashinyan made an explanation of  his statement made from the rostrum of the parliament during the  questions and answers to the government about Shushi.

"One of the scandalous headlines of recent times was that I allegedly  announced that Shushi is not an Armenian city. Meanwhile, during the  questions and answers to the government, I said the following,  namely, that there have never been such options for discussion -  neither today nor during the entire negotiation process, where the  need for the return of Azerbaijani refugees to Shushi is not  mentioned. And in Shushi, before the conflict and liberation, there  was an Azerbaijani population of 90 percent or more.  That is, you  want to say that with such a number of Azerbaijani population it  could be considered under Armenian control? "Pashinyan again quoted  his words from the rostrum of the parliament, adding that this  statement was the reason for various manipulations.

Meanwhile, in fact, he answered the lawmaker's question about the  option by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who proposed stopping the  war on more favorable terms, leaving "Shushi under Armenian control."

"That is, with the phrase" Is Shushi Armenian in such a status? "I  answered the lawmaker's question that" Shushi could remain under our  control in the conditions of the end of the war, "Pashinyan said. He  noted that during the negotiations on the cessation of hostilities ,  among other conditions, Azerbaijan put forward a condition on the  return of Azerbaijanis to Shushi in accordance with demographic data  from 1992, until its liberation.

"The matter, in fact, concerned the possibility of restoring the  demographic status quo of 1992. This condition appeared after Armenia  agreed to stop hostilities. This would mean that more than 90%, or  rather 96% of Shushi residents should have been Azerbaijanis. And  when it became clear, many publicly accused me of not using the  opportunity to keep Shushi under Armenian control, while I only  reacted to the lawmaker's question. I reacted to these statements.  How can Shushi be considered under Armenian control by its status in  case of 96% of the Azerbaijani population? ", Pashinyan noted.  According to the prime minister, it is difficult to imagine the  return of such a number of refugees without resolving the status of  Nagorno-Karabakh and to talk about Armenian control over the city.

On January 21, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, speaking in  parliament, said that throughout the entire process of settling the  Karabakh conflict, the issue of returning the Azerbaijani population  to Shushi was on the negotiating agenda. The population of Shushi  before the first war, according to Pashinyan, was 90 to 10 in favor  of the Azerbaijanis. Proceeding from this, the prime minister asked  the question: is Shushi an Armenian city in terms of its status in  this situation.

After this statement by Pashinyan on January 28 in the Yerablur  military pantheon, journalist Liya Sargsyan asked Pashinyan if it was  true that he considers Shushi to be an Azerbaijani city. It pissed  off the premier who said he didn't say that. Moreover, he demanded in  in writing to submit his quote where he named Shushi an Azerbaijani  city and promised to answer live to this question. In this regard, on  January 29, the journalist came to the building of government with a  handwritten quote by Pashinyan, voiced in parliament: "The population  of Shushi before the first war was 90% to 10% in favor of the  Azerbaijanis. Do you want to say that Shushi, with 90% of the  Azerbaijani population, is Armenian by status?"