With the arrest of Armenia’s second president Robert Kocharyan, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is trying to secure for himself comfortable conditions to fulfill Azerbaijan's demands, Anna Grigoryan, head of the opposition "Armenia" faction in parliament, stated at Monday's press conference.

Congratulating Robert Kocharyan on his birthday, the MP, answering the question why Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Kocharyan on his birthday but did not congratulate Pashinyan on his parliamentary election win, recalled in the first case that there are long-standing friendly relations between the two politicians, whereas in the second case, the lack of legitimacy, widespread violations in the elections, and the theft of votes for the opposition Prosperous Armenia Party are obvious.

As evidence of the geopolitical context of Kocharyan's arrest, Grigoryan pointed out that this event will be discussed within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting in Kyrgyzstan.

Also, the lawmaker noted that the Yerevan-launched deterioration of Armenian-Russian relations affects ordinary citizens of Armenia, and a greater catastrophe is not far off. In this context, she recalled the position of the second president, who is in favor of strengthening Yerevan’s relations with Moscow and is against turning Armenia into a point of conflict between the interests of superpowers, as happened in the case of Georgia and Ukraine.

“They call it ‘diversification,’ but in reality they [i.e. the Armenian authorities] are leading Armenia under the rule of Turkey and towards hostility with the Russian Federation,” added Anna Grigoryan.

Responding to a request to explain what she meant by mentioning “catastrophe,” Grigoryan said that such repressions usually occur before elections, but then a different logic operates: the winner tries to reduce the tension of emotions and create a working environment.

“Such arrests after elections cannot be a coincidence, there must be reasons for this. The change in the constitution [of Armenia] and [the handover] of Tigranashen [village], which, obviously, is being done at the request of Azerbaijan; that is, Pashinyan is trying to create minimal resistance so that no one speaks, does not say a word,” said Grigoryan.

The Armenian opposition MP painfully noted the atmosphere of fear prevailing everywhere and its deepening. At the same time, she assured that the “Armenia” faction will do everything to neutralize the threat. In particular, it will make every effort to prevent the draft constitution of Armenia from passing in parliament.

“The actions against Kocharyan’s family should also be viewed from this same perspective. Pashinyan wants to fulfill all of Azerbaijan’s demands ‘in calm conditions,’” Grigoryan stated.