Pashinyan calls desire to retain Karabakh “temptation and trap”

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has described the decision to relinquish Karabakh as his greatest achievement, saying it helped free Armenia from what he called a “conflict trap.”

Pashinyan made the remarks during a meeting with voters in Armenia’s Gegharkunik region, Caliber.Az reports, citing Armenian media.

He said the move marked a turning point in his approach to the long-standing conflict.

“Yes, I am the person who said: ‘Artsakh is Armenia, and that’s it.’ That is because I was devoted to the idea we were fed for 30 years,” he said.

Pashinyan added that he later concluded the conflict should not be passed on from one generation to the next. He said he studied the issue and came to the realization that the desire to retain control over Karabakh had been a “temptation and a trap.”

“Now there is peace on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, no one is shooting. If the Karabakh movement continues, then small and large losses will eventually lead to the loss of the Armenian state,” he said.

The Armenian prime minister said the current situation along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border is calm, underscoring what he described as the importance of avoiding renewed escalation.

By Vafa Guliyeva