Armenia’s Prime Minister blames Russia for failing to ensure security

MOSCOW, Sept 24 (Reuters) – Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on Sunday that the possibility of Armenians fleeing the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh was increasing, and blamed Russia for its failure to ensure Armenia’s security.

If 120,000 people cross the Lachin Pass into Armenia, the small South Caucasus country could face a humanitarian and political crisis.

“If appropriate conditions are not created for Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh to live in their homes, and there are no effective protection mechanisms against ethnic cleansing, the likelihood is growing that Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh will see exile from their homeland as the only solution.” “A way to save their lives and their identity,” Pashinyan said in his address to the nation.

He said, according to a government text, that “responsibility for such a development of events will fall entirely on Azerbaijan, which has adopted a policy of ethnic cleansing, and on the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Nagorno-Karabakh.”

He added that the Armenian-Russian strategic partnership “is not enough to guarantee Armenia’s external security.”

Last week, Azerbaijan achieved a victory over ethnic Armenians who have controlled the Karabakh region since the dissolution of the Soviet Union. An advisor to the leader of the Karabakh Armenians told Reuters earlier on Sunday that residents were leaving because they felt unsafe under Azerbaijani rule.

Russia played the role of guarantor of the peace agreement that ended a 44-day war in Karabakh three years ago, and many Armenians blame Moscow for its failure to protect the region.

Russian officials say Pashinyan is to blame for his mishandling of the crisis, and have repeatedly said that Armenia, which borders Turkey, Iran, Azerbaijan and Georgia, has few other friends in the region.

“The government will accept our brothers and sisters from Nagorno-Karabakh with full care,” Pashinyan said.

Pashinyan warned that some unknown forces were seeking to provoke a coup against him, and accused the Russian media of waging a media war against him.

“Some of our partners are making increasing efforts to expose our security vulnerabilities, endangering not only our external security and stability, but also our internal security and stability, while violating all rules of decency and correctness in diplomatic relations and relations between states, including obligations undertaken under treaties.” Pashinyan said in his speech on Sunday.

“In this context, it is necessary to transform, complement and enrich the external and internal security tools of the Republic of Armenia,” he said.

Our standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.