Pashinyan is “playing war”
Well, that’s it — a troop of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia was deployed to Syria yesterday. After months of political discourse, the issue is now at the level of realpolitik, and this has only deepened the concerns of public and political circles in Armenia.
As Vice-President of the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) Armen Ashotyan stated as he touched upon the issue yesterday, one gets the impression that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan made this decision exclusively for his personal political interest. It actually does leave this impression because there was no announcement about the so-called official request from Syria.
The legal grounds for the presence of an Armenian troop in Syria are unclear.
What is also obscure is the issue related to the guarantees and protection for Armenian soldiers.
The commentaries of government officials are only inflaming the situation even more.
Commenting on the absence of legal grounds and the crude violation of Armenian legislation in an interview with 168.am, Spokesman of the Prime Minister Vladimir Karapetyan gave the following answer, which is unserious, to say the least.
“Yes, there is a request, but it is not at my disposal. However, it is based on the agreement on humanitarian assistance that Armenia signed in 2001, Armenia’s direct contacts with the Syrian government, as well as Armenia’s determination and disposition to provide assistance to the Syrian people and support the Armenians living in communities that have suffered the most damages, particularly the Armenian community in Aleppo.”
What agreement? Which parties signed the agreement? What was the agreement about? The answers to these questions are unknown.
Yesterday, Chairman of the Standing Committee on Defense and Security Affairs of the National Assembly Andranik Kocharyan “gave a master class” devoted to lack of awareness and showed how unaware he was of the issue by saying the following: “Let the questions be raised, after which we will examine them and give clear-cut answers.”
Let us also stress the fact that the issue on the legal grounds of this deal was also circumvented in the official press release issued by the RA Ministry of Defense. Instead, that same day, Minister of Defense Davit Tonoyan took a photo with his Russian counterpart with a big smile on his face.
It should also be mentioned that Deputy Minister of Defense Gabriel Balayan has admitted that this initiative is Armenia’s initiative, not the Russians’ idea.
Although the Armenian authorities aren’t sparing efforts to present this strictly dangerous and illegal act as a humanitarian act for Armenians living in Syria, based on our information, Armenian community organizations in Syria and other countries of the Middle East weren’t initially excited about this initiative, taking into consideration the current risks of Islamic terrorism in the region.
What is mixing the cards even more is the fact that many people are viewing this initiative as Nikol Pashinyan’s courtesy towards Moscow. Of course, Russia has acknowledged this act of courtesy with pleasure, but it is also clear that such spontaneous flattery will weaken Pashinyan’s positions in Moscow instead of strengthening them, revealing his intrinsic motivation to gain the trust of President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin at any price. What is also surprising is the fact that the opposition parties represented in the National Assembly haven’t publicly expressed their views on the issue yet.
Summing up, it is safe to state the fact that, with this step, Nikol Pashinyan is “playing war” at the expense of the safety of Armenian servicemen and Armenians of the Diaspora.
