Serzh Sargsyan: 2018 government transition was ‘anti-Karabakh movement’

What happened in Armenia about three years ago was, by definitition, an anti-Karabakh movement, third President Serzh Sargsyan said in a televised interview last week, commenting on the government transition processes that led to his resignation as Prime Minister in 2018 after two consecutive terms as the President of Armenia.

The TV company has released a brief review of the exclusive interview, in which the former president elaborated on the causes of the capitulation in the second Karabakh (Artsakh) war, the failures of the Armenian diplomacy, and the politico-military affairs, and the future-oriented programs.

Asked to comment on the widely speculated opinion that the incumbent prime minister is his “project”, Sargsyan said, “I wouldn’t desire such a project even to my enemy, let alone scribbling such a nonsense. I was forced to face a zugzwang,” he said.

Addressing Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s “relationship” with the Azerbaijani leader, the former president said, “If the capitulant consider [Ilham] Aliyev’s steps constructive, then he must give an explanation as to those steps, i.e. – whether [he means] those that preceded the start of military operations or whether there were secret arrangements or certain secret promises given to one another.”

Sargsyan also criticized the current authorities’ actions as absolutely highly insensible. “When those feeble-minded authorities rejected our achievements, preferring instead to turn to Aliyev for information on the history of negotiation, it was already clear to me that we were heading towards a defeat and war,” the ex-president said.

The full interview will be aired at 9:00 local local time on Monday.