Pashinyan claims  only  "Civil Contract" can guarantee peace in  Armenia, but for this to become a reality, people must vote for  "Civil Contract" in  the upcoming parliamentary elections

ArmInfo. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan claims that continuing the "Karabakh movement" means continuing the war, and "Ktrich Nersisyan (the secular name of the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Karekin II - ed.) is the leader of the war party."

"The others - Levon Ter-Petrosyan, Serzh Sargsyan, Robert Kocharyan (former presidents of the Republic of Armenia - ed.) and others - fit within the framework of this logic. And we must make a very clear choice: whether we continue the Karabakh movement or not. If we continue, it means a new war; it cannot be otherwise," he said during a Facebook live broadcast on March 12.

According to him, it is during the upcoming parliamentary elections that the people must answer the question of whether they intend to continue this movement.

"If the people decide to continue the Karabakh movement, that means they will vote for the forces under the leadership of Ktrich Nersisyan. If not, they will have to vote for the Civil Contract party, since it is the only political force that has clearly stated that there will be no continuation of the Karabakh movement," he pointed out.

Furthermore, the Armenian prime minister continued, the ruling party is currently the only one that states that the new Constitution of the country should not contain a reference to the Declaration of Independence.  "Because the Declaration of Independence is not about independence, but about conflict. It is a declaration about conflict, about confrontation," Pashinyan emphasized. He noted that many may today criticize him for his earlier statements on Nagorno-Karabakh ("Artsakh is Armenia, and that's it!"-a phrase Pashinyan uttered in August 2019 in Stepanakert-ed.). As the prime minister clarified, this merely shows that he has done his utmost to implement this agenda.

Regarding talks about the return of the Artsakh people to their homes, Pashinyan believes that by bringing up this topic, Armenia gives Azerbaijan the right to make "mirror" claims-to demand "the return of Azerbaijanis."

Recall, the day before,  Nikol Pashinyan admitted during a briefing that the Director of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute had resigned on his direct orders. The reason for this was a gift to the US Vice President-a book dedicated to Artsakh. "When the prime minister declares that the Karabakh movement no longer exists, what does it mean for an official to give a foreign guest a book about Artsakh? How many people in this country can determine foreign policy?" he asked.

He also expressed dissatisfaction with the mention of the name "Artsakh" during liturgies in Armenian churches. "I recently attended a liturgy and heard the 'Republic of Artsakh' chanted. What does that mean?  It's a call to war, nothing more. Ktrich Nersisyan and other clergy have taken on the role of leaders of the war party. When the prime minister declares that the Karabakh movement is over, no one can continue it.  There cannot be multiple foreign policy directions in the country," Pashinyan stated.

It should also be noted that the current Constitution of Armenia states that it is based on the country's Declaration of Independence, which was adopted on August 23, 1990. The declaration is based, among other things, on the joint resolution of the Supreme Council of the Armenian SSR and the National Council of Nagorno-Karabakh "On theReunification of the Armenian SSR and Nagorno-Karabakh."