The only benchmark of state policy should be the national interests of Armenia and the security of citizens, and it is necessary to end the practice of fulfilling external demands, as they threaten the sovereignty of Armenia. Strong Armenia bloc leader and prime ministerial candidate, businessman and philanthropist Samvel Karapetyan stated this during a meeting with residents of Ararat and Armavir Provinces on the margins of the election campaign for the parliamentary elections on June 7.

The meeting took place in the courtyard of Karapetyan's mansion, as he is under house arrest and cannot hold meetings in other locations.

Karapetyan said that the incumbent Armenian authorities are guided by the dangerous principle of pleasing Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev in every way and carrying out his instructions, which is fraught with disastrous consequences.

Samvel Karapetyan strongly condemned the plans to resettle hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis in Armenia. He stressed that the current Armenian government, in order to please foreign forces, is ready to ignore the interests of its own people and take that destructive step.

“There is only one principle for these authorities: how to please Aliyev, how to carry out his orders, and how to bring here and provide 300,000 Azerbaijanis with homes and jobs, because their ‘boss’ has already ordered so. We will not allow this,” the prime ministerial candidate stated.

Also, he noted that Armenia’s security cannot be built on empty words and continuous concessions. They only create new threats, up to and including the risk of losing Syunik Province. Instead of populating Armenia with foreigners, Karapetyan’s election platform proposes to create 300,000 jobs for Armenians in Armenia, and strengthen the country’s army as the only real guarantor of stability.

“We will have a dignified country and dignified principles. It will no longer matter to us what Aliyev, Turkey, Moscow, or the West say; we will be guided solely by the interests of Armenia. Our task is to ensure the security and well-being of our own people, not to serve the foreigner's agenda," concluded the leader of the Strong Armenia bloc.