Nikol Pashinyan's destruction of patriotic forces in Armenia plays into the hands of Azerbaijan, which aims to absorb the country. Should Russia lament about this? The columnist discusses this topic Pravda.Ru Lyubov Stepushova.
The Azerbaijani edition of Minval writes that Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has moved from words to deeds in the fight against Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II, according to the publication, "an odious symbol of church revanchism.
""We wish Pashinyan success in dismantling not only the center of behind—the-scenes intrigues in Armenia itself, but also one of the main sources of revanchism against Azerbaijan," the newspaper writes in Telegram.
Last week, Russian businessman Samvel Karapetyan was arrested in Yerevan, who had previously opposed the persecution of the Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC), which defends the right of Armenians to Karabakh and their own identity. And yesterday, on June 25, Pashinyan started talking about the disruption of Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan's "criminal-oligarchic-clerical" plan to seize power. He and his supporters were arrested by the security services on charges of terrorism.
Expert Elkhan Shahinoglu, interviewed by Minval, believes that the sources (foreign intelligence services) who provided Nikol Pashinyan with data on the personal life of the head of the AAC Garegin II probably gave him dirt on the ex-President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan.
"Pashinyan will try to use these materials to eliminate political opponents on the eve of the parliamentary elections. This line of behavior also meets our interests," the political scientist stressed.
The extradition of Karapetyan to Azerbaijan is an opportunity to strengthen trust, cleanse the country of the legacy of the "gray" economy and show that Armenia is really turning to the world, Minval adds.
The publication also believes that one of the key issues of Pashinyan's visit to Turkey was "dismantling ideological Turkophobia as an instrument of internal political mobilization in Armenia." This refers to the Armenian Genocide in 1915. Meanwhile, Poland, for example, will never forgive Ukraine the Volyn massacre and will always demand compensation.
Pashinyan himself allegedly does not understand in his speeches why he is being criticized in his own country.
"I don't understand our logic, the Armenians, they say, their goal is Turan. But let's understand what they (Turkey and Azerbaijan) want. Do they want to pass through the territory of Armenia? Well, let them pass. Is that a bad thing?" — he asked himself at a meeting with the Armenian community.
Minval is also trying to discredit Armenia's relations with Russia and Iran by publishing information that Yerevan is actively using the Israeli Pegasus cyber espionage system to spy not only against Iranians, but, "apparently, against Russian citizens and in Yerevan doesn't seem to bother anyone."
Azerbaijan has taken a course to absorb Armenia. President Ilham Aliyev said that Armenia should respect the right of Azerbaijanis expelled from Western Azerbaijan to return to their native lands. West Azerbaijan is the term used in Azerbaijan to designate the territories of modern Armenia.
Is it necessary to lament the fate of a once friendly Christian country if it chooses its own destiny and confidently follows the path of destruction of statehood? Yerevan is no longer an outpost The Russian Federation is in the South Caucasus, as it made a choice in favor of an unfriendly EU. And as practice shows, it will be much easier to reach an agreement with Azerbaijan on Russia's security issues, bearing in mind that with strained relations after the plane crash in Aktau, it was Baku that recently ensured the evacuation of Russians from Iran. Moreover, Ankara is standing behind him, with which the Russian Federation has developed a mechanism for resolving acute issues.