Armenian opposition MPs accuse foreign minister of misleading public

Four lawmakers from the opposition Hayastan faction issued a joint statement on Monday, accusing Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan of misleading the public over peace talks with Azerbaijan.

The MPs, Anna Grigoryan, Artur Khachatryan, Gegham Manukyan and Kristine Vardanyan, recalled that in an interview broadcast by the Public TV on August 27, Mirzoyan insisted that no draft peace agreement had ever included a reference to a specific map. “How could there be a map in a peace treaty?” he asked with irony.

“We officially announce that Ararat Mirzoyan is lying,” the MPs stated.

According to them, Armenia had consistently proposed that border delimitation and demarcation be based on Soviet General Staff maps from 1974–1979. Azerbaijan, in contrast, pushed for vague wording that avoided any reference to maps or dates.

“The published text of the preliminary agreement indicates that Armenia once again conceded to Azerbaijan’s demand,” the lawmakers argued.

They warned that leaving the borders undefined in the agreement highlights two points:

• Negotiations are unfolding strictly on Azerbaijan’s terms.

• Armenian officials have failed to secure provisions protecting the country’s territorial integrity.

The MPs added that the government could only disprove their accusations by publishing all versions of the negotiated documents, which, they claimed, would expose "the utter bankruptcy of the current negotiation team."

They further accused the authorities of pursuing not Armenian interests but the legitimization of Azerbaijan’s demands, while attempting to convince the public that no alternative path exists.

“This is the essence of the ruling regime: to lie, mislead and justify Azerbaijan’s demands,” the statement concluded.