Ruben Vardanyan to not leave Artsakh

ArmInfo. "I will work here, I will stay by your side," Ruben Vardanyan said at a meeting of the Artsakh government, during which he was relieved of the post of State Minister of Artsakh.

<First of all, I thank you for the path that we have passed together,  and for the faith of Mr. President in me, it was a great experience  for me.

You know that I have been visiting Artsakh for decades, I had great  connections, but in early September I announced that I had come  because I feel that we are standing on the edge of the abyss, not  fully understanding the situation. For me it was Sardarapat. When I  say Sardarapat, I understand the crisis, a different agenda, and I  consider myself a soldier doing everything necessary to save our  Motherland. Therefore, when I received this invitation, it was  unexpected for me, because I promised myself that I would not go to  government work, but I realized that if I am a man of my word, I am  going to defend my Motherland, then regardless of whether I want to  this, or I don't want to, I can, I can't, if necessary, then  necessary. Of course, it was a difficult decision for me>, he said.

Ruben Vardanyan touched upon the reasons for the unwillingness to  resign. <I thought that I was a soldier, I can not retire, if  necessary, the Supreme Commander must himself release me. Secondly, I  am sure that we have done a very important job at a very difficult  time, and I want to thank all the people who worked during this  difficult crisis, from 7 am to 2 am, without electricity and gas.  Given that as a team they are ready for anything. For me it was a  very important experience, for which I am very grateful to him.  Thirdly, the pressure from outside was really great, Mr.  President  is more informed and understands the situation>, he noted.

The former state minister admits that there is pressure associated  with his stay in Artsakh, but notes that he will not leave Artsakh,  because "he cannot imagine himself without Artsakh". <I will gladly  continue the activities that I have done so far. Our foundation, the  "We are our mountains" agency, has already done several projects. I  must say that this was an example of very important cooperation  between the public and private sectors, Armenia, the Diaspora,  Armenian and non-Armenian public organizations. I think this is very  important, because if we are talking about the future, it is very  important that this cooperation continues. We will continue to invest  our efforts and do a lot of work so that as many Armenians as  possible come to Artsakh, so that not only Artsakh Armenians do not  feel lonely, but also those who left Artsakh at different times  return during this crisis, strengthening our homeland with that  more," he stressed.

He also touched upon the problems during his tenure as state  minister. <The biggest problem is that I could not prove and explain  two things: that the situation is abnormal, and the crisis has its  own laws. This was perhaps one of my biggest omissions. Another  difficulty was that I couldn't explain what struggle means - we are  aware of our weaknesses and strengths every day, how we should  strengthen our position, how we can use our limited resources. Our  struggle is not only in weapons, but also in the field of economics  and information. These 112 days brought changes that inevitably  showed a new situation, a new Artsakh>, he explained.   According to him, there are no "former ones", "Sorosians" for him, -  there are people who are ready to conduct business in this military  situation, and ready to go forward shoulder to shoulder, not looking  back. <Whoever is not ready should either be punished or get out of  here, because they should not interfere with our work. Perhaps my  approach was too radical, but I do not regret it>, Vardanyan added.   <I will work here, I will stay by your side. Thank you Mr President  for everything. Although, indeed, we have disagreements in different  approaches, but the general idea is that we have red lines that no  one can cross. These red lines are very important for our dignity,  for keeping Armenianness, independence and dignity of Artsakh. I'm  sure we'll get through this together>, Ruben Vardanyan concluded.