Armenian politician slams recent burning of Azerbaijani, Turkish flags in Yerevan Calling the action belligerent pity

In a statement to Armenian media, Ruben Mehrabyan, vice-chairman of the Armenian "In the Name of the Republic" party, denounced the act of burning Azerbaijani and Turkish flags as a reflection of "Hamas terrorist aesthetics" infiltrating Armenian society.

"The flag burning is a manifestation of the militant pathos, the Hamas terrorist aesthetic that has entered our daily lives with an invisible hand and has become a kind of unwritten protocol, taking place in Republic Square in the face of state connivance,” Caliber.Az quotes Mehrabyan as saying.

"The state has something to do here because they don't honour the memory of the victims in this way. Secondly, this is not a show of force, but of belligerent pity; he who has a state does not burn the flag of a state, even if that state is hostile. Similar things are being done by terrorist groups in the Middle East who are engaged in this operation out of their powerlessness. Why are they introducing all this into the Armenian reality? It is impossible to brainwash the youth to such an extent, showing them that this combat pathos is a manifestation of strength, it is a shame, it is self-assertion on symbols. To our enemies, adversaries or detractors of the state, it cannot harm and the only thing it will bring is contempt and pity. But why do we create such feelings towards ourselves?" Mehrabyan noted, expressing the opinion that the state should prohibit such actions.

Touching upon the insults to the Armenian government by Echmiadzin, the politician notes that all this has nothing to do with the state life, democratic society, honouring the memory of the "victims", respect in general, including to themselves.

"The Church has not accepted the existence of the Republic of Armenia. Even in the speech of high-ranking churchmen it is explicitly stated that if there should be either the state or the church, there should be no state. Not to mention that these people are serving another state with their actions. They are not clergymen, they are charlatans, no matter who and for what they insult," the political scientist said.

According to him, any situation is used to provoke internal political conflicts.

"The state has something to do here to stop these attempts, because democracy, yes, means all freedoms, but democracy also means the rule of law, and only the state is the guardian of the law, including the monopoly right to use legal force," he notes.

The flags of Azerbaijan and Türkiye were once again burnt in Yerevan on April 23.