Armenia events didn’t contain foreign elements, says PM Pashinyan

The domestic political developments which took place in Armenia, did not contain any foreign elements, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said in an interview for the Russian service of Deutsche Welle.

“The revolution took place in Armenia at the decision of the people, it was a velvet revolution, which took place without any violence. I was elected Prime Minister within the Constitution. Our movement did not contain any geopolitical context, there were no foreign political issues. It was simply a domestic political process – at the decision of the people,” Pashinyan said.

The PM noted that during those days the international media made different emphases.

Namely, certain articles attempted to present what has happened in a false manner – as if the developments had foreign links.

“I say again, this was an entirely Armenian political process, without any foreign factor. There was no change in our foreign political process, we will continue our work by developing relations in various directions. This relates to our relations with Russia, US, Georgia and Iran. The foreign policy vector remains the same as it was before the revolution,” he said.

Asked to weigh in on why Russian President Vladimir Putin did not interfere and did not support then-PM Serzh Sargsyan, Pashinyan said that the reason is very simple – because Armenia is an independent and sovereign country. The reporter however noted that Russia has always reacted to processes like this in post-Soviet countries in another way, and the PM responded – “Armenia is Armenia, I believe that every country has its own specifications. The main specification of our country is that we treat our sovereignty and independence with great regard”.