We’re not creating tension. I think it would be better, if you addressed your question to the people whom you were expecting to see there. After all, the day of celebration of the victory in the Battle of Sardarapat is the day of celebration of all Armenians, not just the representatives of the My Step Alliance and Nikol Pashinyan. This is what Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly of Armenia Alen Simonyan told journalists today, talking about the fact that the leadership of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh Republic) was not invited to Armenia on the day of the First Republic of Armenia and about the Armenian authorities’ relations with the leadership.

Talking about second President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan’s statement on entering politics, Alen Simonyan said the following: “So, we ascertain that he wasn’t in politics, and from now on, anyone who claims that Robert Kocharyan was politically persecuted, we are free to tell those people that Kocharyan wasn’t in politics and the charge was filed against him when he wasn’t in politics.”

However, the deputy parliamentary speaker says Kocharyan and his supporters can be an appropriate opposition for the authorities. “I believe Kocharyan and his supporters can be the most appropriate opposition for me because they left a rather negative trace in Armenia, and it will be easy for me to criticize and debate with them as a representative of the authorities.”