I Don't Want to Scare Our People, But We Must Always Be Ready for the Defense of Our Country - Ohanyan

The thoughts expressed by our alliance, parliamentary group, and the political forces that comprise the alliance have been confirmed today. This was stated by Seyran Ohanyan, the leader of the "Armenia" faction, during a briefing with journalists.

Ohanyan noted, "The pressures from the Turkish-Azerbaijani tandem and the use of a language of imposition towards Armenia are ongoing and will continue. The peace agenda is a facade; the authorities do not have a proper understanding of the peace agenda, and it is a deception for Armenia." He emphasized that there can be no peace agreement as the government, which lost the war, is constantly under duress.

"The peace agenda is a unilateral agenda; from our side, it is begging for peace, while from the opponent's side, it is an imposition of peace. Aliyev's rhetoric has not changed because he continuously presents new demands. For Azerbaijan and Turkey, the so-called 'Zangezur Corridor' and the opening of infrastructure are security guarantees for them to connect with each other, while for us, all of Syunik is a security guarantee," said the deputy.

Speaking about the possibility of a new military escalation, Ohanyan commented, "I don’t want to scare our people, but we must always be ready for the defense of our country. It is evident that where negotiations end, military operations begin. Therefore, we must see two priorities in ensuring the security of our country - the first is the establishment of national guarantees, and the second is international guarantees."

Returning to the issue of the 'Zangezur Corridor' and the opening of infrastructure, Ohanyan stated, "I have always said that the opening of the road through Syunik will give us nothing; our partners have conducted calculations, and it will not yield any benefits to us. On the contrary, there will be pressures on the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia from both directions. There will be economic pressures and changes to the demographic landscape. Our false neighbors will come to fill Syunik; we have seen during the Soviet Union how quickly they would increase their numbers."