Former NSS chief accuses Pashinyan of advancing Turkish, Azerbaijani interests

Artur Vanetsyan, former head of the National Security Service (NSS) and leader of the Homeland Party, has strongly criticized Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan for a deliberate shift away from the Armenian Genocide recognition campaign.

Speaking to reporters after paying his respects at the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial on the Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day on April 24, Vanetsyan accused the Armenian authorities of pushing "false narratives" to appease Turkey and Azerbaijan.

“The authorities are attempting to remove the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide from our national agenda through false narratives in an effort to please the Turkish-Azerbaijani tandem,” he said.

Commenting on Pashinyan’s recent remarks condemning the burning of the Turkish flag, the opposition leader said his statements would have been acceptable only if Pashinyan were not actively advancing Turkish and Azerbaijani interests.

“If Pashinyan were simply criticizing symbolic acts like flag burning and if his actions weren’t so clearly aligned with Turkish-Azerbaijani interests, his comments could be viewed as those of a leader seeking pragmatic relations with neighboring states,” Vanetsyan said. “But under the current circumstances, his statements confirm yet again that he is more vigorously serving Turkish-Azerbaijani rather than Armenian national interests.”

Vanetsyan also reflected on his 2019 resignation as NSS chief, recalling that he had warned of troubling developments back then.

“At the time, I didn’t see such drastic moves being implemented yet, but as someone with access to more information and the ability to analyze, I understood the path our country was heading down. Still, I couldn’t have imagined the situation Armenia is currently facing even in my worst nightmares,” he stressed.