Putin promised and kept his word – Pashinyan thanks Russian leader for security of Syrian- Armenians

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan believes that Russia has many levers to contribute to the safety of Armenians in Syria.

“There is the town of Qamishli in northern Syria where around three thousand Armenians live. I’ve talked about this with the President of Russia. We had concerns, and I asked the Russian President to do everything possible for the fate of the Armenians of concretely Qamishli to be taken into consideration. The tension was very high there at that time because of Turkey’s invasion. I would like to thank Vladimir Putin that as a result the security issues of the Armenians living in this territory were taken into consideration. We hope that the agreements which have been reached will be implemented and that the security interests of Armenians will continue being maintained,” the Armenian PM told Kommersant newspaper in an interview.

PM Nikol Pashinyan added that Russia has tangible presence in Syria. “Her [Russia’s] role in the security sector is quite large. Russia has many levers in order to contribute to the Armenians’ security. Armenia too has a mission in Syria. However, our mission is a humanitarian one and it has no relation to security matters. We are very happy to carry out such a humanitarian mission there,” Pashinyan said.

To the observation that Armenia is the only CSTO country besides Russia to have sent representatives to Syria, the PM said: “Yes, and this is a very important mission for us. I find it to be a historic one. It is successfully being implemented and it continues”.

Asked if Vladimir Putin has promised that Russia guarantees the Syrian-Armenians’ security, the Armenian Premier answered affirmatively.

“The President of Russia promised and kept his promise. He said that during the negotiations the interests of Armenians of Qamishli will be taken into consideration. I notified him that there is a big Armenian community there. We see that this conversation has concrete positive consequences,” Pashinyan said.