Armenian ambassador-at-large steps down amidst controversy Diplomatic resignation and party turmoil

Armenian Ambassador-at-Large, Edmon Marukyan, has recently announced his resignation, shedding light on deep-rooted disagreements with the Pashinyan government's peace agenda and allegations of censorship regarding the Khojaly genocide.

Marukyan's decision to step down from his role comes amidst a backdrop of significant geopolitical events unfolding in and around Armenia. While he did not explicitly state the reasons for his departure, he hinted at fundamental differences with the current administration's foreign policy direction, Caliber.Az reports via Armenian media.

“Against the backdrop of serious geopolitical events taking place around Armenia, Armenian Ambassador at Large Edmon Marukyan recently announced that he had written a letter of resignation. The former ambassador did not disclose the reasons for his departure, only hinting in his post that he had disagreements with the current government on foreign policy issues,” the Armenian publication “Zhokhovurd” writes.

According to the publication, Marukyan's resignation can be primarily attributed to his perception of the peace agenda proposed by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's government as a failure.

“The main reason is that Marukyan considered the peace agenda proposed by the Pashinyan government to be a complete failure. Edmon Marukyan raised this issue with Nikol Pashinyan himself, saying that there is no progress in the negotiations and the peace agenda is not moving forward. Instead, Azerbaijan makes unilateral demands to Armenia, which Armenia fulfils. Marukyan explained to his entourage that one of the reasons for his departure was that the Armenian side agreed to fulfil another demand of Azerbaijan - to withdraw claims filed against Azerbaijan from all international courts.

Moreover, this agreement was previously reached between the two countries on the principle of reciprocity, but Azerbaijan violated it and did not renounce its claims, and Pashinyan instructed officials of the Armenian side to prepare statements renouncing claims against Azerbaijan,” the newspaper underlines.

Allegedly, Edmon Marukyan's resignation was partly influenced by his comments regarding the Khojaly massacre, where he reportedly denied Armenian involvement in the tragedy.

“One of the reasons for Edmon Marukyan’s departure was his post about the massacres in Khojaly (where he denied the involvement of Armenians in the genocide of Azerbaijani civilians - ed.). After that, he received a call from the Armenian Foreign Ministry on the instructions of Ararat Mirzoyan and was reprimanded, prohibiting him from writing such posts again.

Moreover, according to our sources, the hint about Edmon Marukyan’s resignation was made not by Pashinyan, but by the Foreign Ministry itself,” the report adds.

The sequence of events intensified tensions within Edmon Marukyan's Bright Armenia Party, leading party members to call for his resignation from either his ambassadorial role or his position as party chairman. The party expressed concerns that maintaining positions under the current government was detrimental to their interests.

“All these events also fueled passions in Edmon Marukyan’s “Bright Armenia” party. It got to the point that party members demanded that Marukyan resign either from the post of ambassador or from the post of party chairman.

The party said that holding a position under this government only harms them, and although they do not agree with the current government on many issues, they are not able to speak out about it and act as a real opposition. As a result, Edmon Marukyan decided to resign from the post of Ambassador at Large of Armenia,” the report concludes.