YEREVAN (Azatutyun.am)—Nagorno-Karabakh political figures condemned on Friday Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s threats to crack down on Karabakh’s Yerevan-based leadership which is continuing to present itself as a government in exile.
Pashinyan on Thursday accused it of posing a threat to Armenia’s national security and ordered Armenian security services to be ready for “appropriate measures.” His warning was clearly addressed to Samvel Shahramanyan, the Karabakh president who fled Karabakh along with the region’s entire ethnic Armenian population last September.
In an interview with France’s Le Figaro daily published on Wednesday, Shahramanyan said that the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic continues to exist despite Karabakh’s recapture by Baku. He has not yet reacted to Pashinyan’s threats.
“It’s blackmail, it’s a threatening attitude and a clear message that concrete actions could be taken,” Artak Beglaryan, a former Karabakh premier and human rights ombudsman said, commenting on the threats.
Beglaryan, who now leads a non-governmental organization helping Karabakh refugees, said the Armenian authorities could now prosecute Karabakh leaders or shut down the NKR office in Yerevan.
“I don’t exclude any scenario,” Beglaryan told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. “But I would advise Armenia’s political leadership and law-enforcement bodies to be prudent and not to exploit this subject. If there are sensitive issues they should discuss them with the Artsakh authorities and find solutions, rather than dissolve Artsakh’s state bodies.”
Metakse Hakobyan, a Karabakh lawmaker, said Pashinyan is trying to “intimidate, silence and ultimately jail” Karabakh leaders. “I think that they have already decided their further actions,” she said.
Arpi Davoyan, an Armenian parliament deputy and senior member of Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party, confirmed that law-enforcement authorities “will deal with” the NKR leadership.
“Yes, this is a matter of national security, and I think that law-enforcement bodies will draw relevant conclusions,” she told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
Speaking at a weekly session of his cabinet, Pashinyan repeatedly stated that “there can be no government in Armenia apart from the government of Armenia.”
“The powers of representatives of the Artsakh government do not extend to the Republic of Armenia,” countered Beglarian. “They extend to the occupied territory of Artsakh.”
The NKR bodies, he said, remain the legitimate representatives of the Karabakh Armenians and must continue to operate with the ultimate aim of achieving their collective return to their homeland. The Armenian government must at least not hamper that despite facing pressure from Azerbaijan and Turkey, added Beglaryan.
Pashinyan publicly recognized Azerbaijani sovereignty over Karabakh several months before Azerbaijan’s September 2023 military offensive. He has since repeatedly indicated that the Karabakh issue is closed for his administration. His detractors say that he is scared of angering Baku.
