Pashinyan Accuses Artsakh Forces of “Fleeing,” Former Artsakh President Fires Back

Tensions have risen between Former President of Artsakh Samvel Shahramanyan and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan following recent statements about the events surrounding the fall of Artsakh.

Shahramanyan strongly criticized comments made by the Armenian prime minister, who suggested that claims by the former leadership of Artsakh about resistance during wartime were exaggerated or false. Shahramanyan described these remarks as harmful and said they are meant to create division within Armenian society and increase intolerance.

“These myths — that they fought until the end and so on — are lies, nothing like that happened; they fled, they ran away,” Pashinyan said during a briefing last week.

The prime minister also stated that he is prepared to release official information if necessary to support his position.

In response, Shahramanyan argued that Armenia’s current leadership played a central role during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War, particularly on the political and diplomatic fronts. He said that decisions made at that time led to the current situation, in which Armenians lost control of Artsakh.

“It is because of their actions that today the people of Artsakh have ended up in this situation, and the Armenian people have lost Artsakh.”

Shahramanyan also stressed that all major issues related to Artsakh had been discussed with Armenia’s leadership, rejecting any suggestion that decisions were made independently.

During the Azerbaijani military offensive in September 2023, Pashinyan maintained that Armenia did not have troops stationed in Nagorno-Karabakh and was not directly involved in the fighting. He repeated that position again, insisting that he never ordered anyone to retreat.

“People should not link their fleeing or running away to my orders. People wanted to receive such orders; I have never given such orders. Whoever says such a thing belongs to the army of those who fled. We have had cowardly generals; what can someone who became a general through corruption be? Instead of service, they hung cans in positions and built their mansions,” Nikol Pashinyan emphasized during the briefing.

Pashinyan further claimed that some individuals who deserted during the war are now presenting themselves differently in Armenia, accusing them of spreading panic or abandoning their posts during the conflict.

“People came from Karabakh and act like ‘real men’ here, but when I study their stories during the 44-day war, one was spreading panic, another was a deserter, another took his son away from the position.”

Shahramanyan also addressed broader concerns about regional stability. He said that while Armenia’s security must remain the top priority, the people of Artsakh are trying to avoid contributing to further military escalation. At the same time, he emphasized that they retain the right to advocate for their return under international law.

The dispute also extends to the issue of leadership changes in Artsakh. Armenian authorities have argued that the dissolution of Artsakh was a result of decisions made by its own leadership. Shahramanyan responded by discussing the resignation of Arayik Harutyunyan, stating that the decision had been considered multiple times during the blockade period.

“The last time Arayik Harutyunyan raised the issue of resigning, he justified it by saying he had lost the trust of the people and did not have the resources to take actions that would bring Artsakh out of that situation. I did not see any political pressure on him from politicians,” he said.

Harutyunyan officially stepped down on September 1, 2023, stating that the decision was his own and that new approaches were needed in a rapidly changing situation.

After his resignation, Artsakh’s parliament elected Shahramanyan as president on September 9. However, just ten days later, on September 19, Azerbaijan launched a large-scale military attack on Nagorno-Karabakh. Following these events, Shahramanyan signed a decree formally dissolving the self-proclaimed republic.

—

Support independent reporting from the region by subscribing to The Armenian Report. Our team is funded solely by readers like you.