We promised a crackdown on personnel, not vendetta, and there will be crackdown on personnel. This is what Secretary of the Security Council Armen Grigoryan said during an interview on Armenian Public Television.

Asked what he means by ‘crackdown on personnel’ and whether this means crackdown on people who don’t support the ruling party or support the opposition. In response, Grigoryan said the crackdown will be on people who don’t support reforms.

When told that the Azerbaijanis are still in Armenia and why there is no response from the Collective Security Treaty Organization, Grigoryan said the elections were free and fair and added that Armenia is currently holding intensive negotiations with Russia. “We don’t know how Azerbaijan will behave. One thing is for sure — the Russian troops will stand on the borders that existed during the Soviet era, the Azerbaijanis will exit the sovereign territory of Armenia, and the issue will be solved,” he added.

The TV commentator reminded Grigoryan that he had stated that if the Azerbaijanis don’t leave through negotiations, then they will be pushed out by force, Grigoryan said the government is trying to solve the issue diplomatically. “Russian border guard troops will stand on the border, and then there will be Armenian and Azerbaijani border guard troops. If our troops aren’t enough, Russian troops will stand there. The final decision is that Russian border guards will stand on the border,” he said, adding that large-scale work has been done for reforms in the army.

Grigoryan also expressed certainty that the Russian peacekeepers won’t leave the borders of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) after four-and-a-half years and that his Russian colleagues have assured him.