First Ombudsman of Armenia: The greatest threat to Armenian statehood  today comes from within

ArmInfo. The greatest threat to Armenian statehood today comes from within. This opinion was expressed by Larisa Alaverdyan the first Ombudsman of Armenia and advocate of human rights, in an interview with an ArmInfo  correspondent, while commenting on the statements of Armenian Prime  Minister Nikol Pashinyan, questioning the fact of the Armenian  Genocide in the Ottoman Empire.

Alaverdyan believes that the current government, judging by its  actions and rhetoric, is serving the Turkish- Azerbaijani policy of  genocide against Armenians. "It is not a coincidence that I often  repeat that Armenia was captured from within. Recognizing that  destroying it from the outside was impossible,  a significant effort  was made to prepare a team unlike any seen  in the history of  Armenia. This team was carefully selected, and today we are facing a  dual threat: internal and external. It is time to consider this and  not seek reasons in other geographical directions," the human rights  activist emphasized.  She claims that the greatest threat to Armenian  statehood comes from within. "I have no doubt that a government that  is nationally oriented and has the skills to work in difficult  conditions will be able to change the situation," Alaverdyan added.

She cited words of the former Turkish Foreign Minister as an example.  In a telegram to his counterpart from Azerbaijan, he particular,  wrote: "Continuing to deceive Armenians and other Europeans, we must  relentlessly pursue our goal - to destroy Armenians as a state nation  and physically." She pointed out that such statements were made as  early as in 1919. Comparing them to the statements made by current  Turkish and Azerbaijani "legal Nazis", Alaverdyan noted that nothing  has changed.

It is important to note that the relevant article of the Criminal  Code of Armenia (Article 136) criminalizes the denial of the  Genocide. This includes denying, belittling, approving or justifying  genocide, as well as other crimes against  peace and security of  humanity. However, according to Larisa Alaverdyan, this article does  not fully reflect the issue of genocide and punishment for the such  acts. The human rights activist explained that the Prime Minister  discusses genocide, he may be committing the listed criminal acts, by  phrasing his statements as questions, essentially using the most  sophisticated manipulation.  "We are dealing with expressions that  are the product of manipulative political technologies. They can be  developed by professionals or be the result of many years of  political fraud. In this case, actual events and facts are grossly  distorted, chronology is manipulated, and research by numerous  leading scientists, political figures of the League of Nations member  countries, the statement of the heads of Great Britain, Russia and  France, distributed in May 1915, etc. are consigned to oblivion.  Therefore, it is necessary to carefully prepare all materials and  collect evidence of the commission of acts by a specific individual,  as provided for by the legislation of Armenia or international  criminal law," Alaverdyan said.

 The human rights activist is confident that even though anything can  be expected from the courts of Armenia under this government, this  issue should still be brought up in the country's judicial instances,  and then in international courts and political platforms