Armenian opposition urges Pashinyan to end concessions

Armenia’s opposition says Azerbaijan will not be satisfied with its demand for constitutional changes as a condition for a peace treaty and will seek further concessions.

“Operative Information Center-OMM” reports, citing Sputnik Armenia, that Strong Armenia faction secretary Tigran Abramyan made the statement at a briefing.

Abramyan said Baku would put forward further conditions after Yerevan adopts a new constitution. “The Armenian authorities may not know what Baku will demand after the new constitution is adopted. That is why the chain of concessions by Yerevan must be ended as soon as possible. Armenia has already made every concession it could,” he said.

Another faction MP, Arega Hovsepyan, alleged that Azerbaijan was not interested in a peace treaty and said Baku’s main goal was to secure a land link with Nakhchivan.

The opposition’s accusations came after Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s recent speech in parliament. Pashinyan said Yerevan would seek clarification on whether a new constitution would be sufficient to achieve full peace with Azerbaijan. He said that if the answer were positive and the opposition refused to support it, the government would activate a mechanism of “public pressure” against its opponents.

Asked what condition would be acceptable to Strong Armenia, Abramyan said it could only be a final, signed peace treaty.