Artur Khachatryan: Armenian authorities prioritize controlling the  masses rather than strengthening their own army to confront  Azerbaijan

ArmInfo.  The current Armenian  authorities prioritize controlling the masses within the country, that is, to use brute force, rather than enhancing the army's  potential to confront Azerbaijan. On December 2, Artur Khachatryan, a  member of the National Assembly from the opposition faction  "Armenia", made this statement in a conversation with journalists. He  was commenting on the joint lawsuit filed by deputies of their  faction against the government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of  the country regarding the imposed ban on familiarization with the  draft peace treaty with Azerbaijan. The deputy emphasized that the  lawsuit wasn't a violation of the law but rather a political  assessment of the document currently under discussion between the  foreign ministries of Armenia and Azerbaijan. "All of this has led to  the authorities deciding to limit our constitutional rights,  violating the laws on parliamentary guarantees and on freedom of  information. These rights allow us to be aware of what Pashinyan and  Aliyev are signing, " the MP added.

In this context, the oppositionist pointed out that Pashinyan is  trying to demonstrate that he alone has the authority to make  decisions in this country. The MP noted that the notion of the  country moving towards peace is being force upon society, despite the  opposition's repeated warnings that this agreement is about  unilateral concessions. "This agreement is a capitulation agreement,  which poses numerous threats to Armenia and which deprives our  country of freedom and independence, undermining its territorial  integrity," Khachatryan explained.

Additionally, according to him, the agreement includes a dangerous  clause for Armenia, stating that the peace treaty holds greater legal  authority than the country's Constitution. "I am worried that more of  these points will emerge over time. The government talk about  sovereignty, yet they are unable to place observers on their own  territory. You remember when Pashinyan justified the deployment of  the EU observer mission on our territory by saying that "Azerbaijan  fears a possible attack from Armenia and Russia." It's another lie  and manipulation," Khachatryan noted, adding that the Armenian  authorities have reached a point where they no longer have the right  to decide what can be built or stationed on their own territory. 

At the same time, the MP is confident that Azerbaijan's demands will  only increase over time. This includes the demand for  demilitarization of the country and changes to the Constitution to  appease Baku. In this context, he asked a counter question about the  last time major military exercises held in the Armenian army.  Khachatryan noted that military exercises enhance the combat  readiness of the country's armed forces to counter Azerbaijani  aggression. 

"Armenia has not participated in any significant events recently,  except for small exercises, particularly, to control the masses.  These authorities prioritize controlling the masses through brute  force over enhancing the army's potential and confronting  Azerbaijan," the MP said. When asked to comment Russian President  Vladimir Putin's statement on November 28 at a CSTO meeting in  Astana, suggesting that the military bloc should not have fought for  Armenia in Nagorno-Karabakh due to the lack of external aggression  against Armenia itself, Khachatryan noted that the discussion was  about Artsakh. Additionally, the party refrains from commenting on  the positions of Putin or other foreign leaders.  He added that the  real picture of the relationship between Armenia and Russia is  determined and formed by Pashinyan's policy. He emphasized that  Armenia has been subjected to aggression, and today Azerbaijani  troops are on the territory of the Republic of Armenia. " The current  Armenian authorities has promised the withdrawal of Azerbaijani  troops through delimitation and demarcation of the border, but  whether this will really happen, we need to turn to fortune tellers  for a definite answer," Khachatryan humorously remarked.