Contrary to the Declaration of Independence, Pashinyan`s allies  continue to consider Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan

ArmInfo.. Sargis Khandanyan, a member of the ruling Civil Contract faction in the National Assembly of Armenia, shares the position of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan,  that the content of the Declaration of Independence poses a threat to  the existence of the Republic of Armenia.

He expressed this position on September 15 in parliament in response  to journalists' request for comment on the statement made by the head  of state.  At the same time, he assured that the issue was not with  the declaration itself, but with its content and emphasis. In an  attempt to somehow justify the fore-mentioned tautology, Khandanyan  began to talk nonsensically about how "the document, which was  adopted in 1990, before the Republic gain independence, essentially  distorts the reality of independent Armenia." "Therefore, I support  this position. This decision made by the Constitutional Court on  September 26 is important in the realm of legal assessment. I do not  want to comment on the Supreme Court's decision - whether it is  positive or negative. However, this decision only reinforces this  point of view," Khandanyan explained. 

When journalists asked whether he believed Turkey committed the  Armenian Genocide in 1915, or if this was also a threat to Armenia,  he replied that such a question was offensive and incorrect. The head  of the Commission was surprised, asking. "Can you imagine an Armenian  or a citizen who would say they don't t accept this?" In response to  the journalists' remark that, by the same logic, just a couple of  years ago no one would have imagined Artsakh would ever be occupied  by Azerbaijan, Khandanyan assured that the journalists were too young  and did not have specific information about the negotiations  regarding the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh.

"Nagorno-Karabakh has always been considered part of the territorial  integrity of Azerbaijan," added the NA deputy. He, apparently due to  his young age, lacks proper information about the negotiation process  and is simply unaware that before the Velvet Revolution, the issue of  self-determination of the Republic of Artsakh in exchange for the  transfer of buffer zones around the NKR was at the negotiating table.

In response to the question of whether the Armenian authorities are  in a hurry to change the Constitution to please Azerbaijan,  Khandanyan noted that their discussions are taking place within the  framework of the concept of "Real Armenia," and he does not  understand the assumption that domestic political events should be  dictated from the outside.  "Ignoring the real issues in our country  will only create a divide between us and the people. Azerbaijan's  rhetoric provokes its own reaction. The Prime Minister addressed  discussions about amending the Constitution, including in a question  and answer format," the head of the commission concluded.