Armenian former president's statement sparks sharp rebuke from PM Pashinyan's office

Arayik Harutyunyan, Chief of Staff to the Armenian Prime Minister, has issued a public response to a statement by Armenia’s third president, Serzh Sargsyan, in which Sargsyan declared that he would remain in the country even under the threat of the death penalty.

Harutyunyan criticized Sargsyan’s remarks, questioning the former president’s silence toward his own family, Caliber.Az reports, citing Armenian media.

“Today, Serzh Sargsyan stated that even if he knew he was facing the death penalty in Armenia, he would not leave the country because ‘this is my country, not theirs,’” Arutyunyan wrote.

He continued: “If your love for the country were genuine, why did you fail to communicate your position on our nation to your own family—your brothers, their children, your son-in-law, your party colleagues, ministers, prime ministers, and community leaders, many of whom are presently under investigation?

Why did you remain silent with them? Was that, too, meant as an expression of love? Or, as was often said in your former office—though it never truly becomes ‘former’—‘hitting is a sign of love’?”

By Vafa Guliyeva