Pashinyan Threatens ‘Toughest Measures’ Against Any Attempt to Maintain an Artsakh Government in Armenia

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan warned Wednesday that his government would use the “toughest measures” to stop any attempt to maintain a separate Artsakh government or parliament in Armenia, while also calling for the Artsakh representative office in Yerevan to be placed under state control.

The warning came during a tense exchange in parliament over housing for Armenians displaced from Artsakh, where more than 100,000 ethnic Armenians fled to Armenia following Azerbaijan’s September 2023 military offensive.

Arega Hovsepyan, an opposition lawmaker from the Strong Armenia faction, raised concerns about high rents facing displaced families and suggested that Artsakh Armenians without housing could be accommodated in government residences.

Pashinyan rejected the proposal and instead questioned why some former Artsakh officials own property in Yerevan while many displaced families continue to struggle with housing.

“Why is it that you, being from Karabakh, have a two-room apartment in Yerevan while the other 100,000 do not?” Pashinyan asked Hovsepyan.

The prime minister said the government residences belong to the Armenian state, not to him personally, and argued that public money has already been committed to supporting displaced Artsakh Armenians.

Pashinyan said 800 billion drams had been allocated, telling displaced residents to use the assistance programs available to them.

He then accused unnamed former Artsakh officials of owning multiple buildings and hotels in Yerevan and suggested they make those properties available to displaced families.

“Give the buildings owned by the former leaders of Karabakh to the people and let them live there,” Pashinyan said. “They own dozens of buildings and dozens of hotels. Give them to the people and let them live there.”

Pashinyan did not identify the former officials or provide evidence during the exchange to support the claim.

He also pushed back against the suggestion that people struggling to pay rent should be allowed to move into government property.

“Anyone who has a problem paying rent can simply go and move into any place they want? Is that your logic?” Pashinyan said. “When people come and move into your home, make sure you do not call the police.”

The discussion then turned to the Artsakh representative office in Yerevan and the broader status of institutions associated with the former authorities of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Pashinyan said Armenia would not tolerate structures operating as a separate government within the country.

“There cannot be two states and two governments in Armenia,” he said.

Pashinyan said the Artsakh representative office must be transferred to the control of the Armenian government and left little room for compromise over its future status.

“The structure in Armenia that you refer to by that name must unequivocally come under the control of the Republic of Armenia,” he said.

He then issued a broader warning against efforts to preserve political institutions associated with the former Artsakh government inside Armenia.

“As prime minister of the Republic of Armenia, all attempts to establish a second state or a second government, a second parliament within the state will be stopped with the toughest measures,” Pashinyan said. “I am saying this clearly so that it is absolutely understood.”

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