In Azerbaijan, they are asking why the flags of Nagorno-Karabakh are hanging in Armenia’s parliament and saying, “Well, if that’s the case, we’ll call [Lake] Sevan ‘Goycha.” Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated this at the international Orbeli Forum being held in Yerevan.

“And here, they say, ‘Well, if they say ‘Goycha,’ let’s say ‘Gandzak,’ let’s say ‘Kovsakan,’ let’s say ‘Kashatagh.’ They say, ‘See, they said ‘Jrakan,’ let’s say Yerevan is an old Azerbaijani city.’ This is the wrong path,” Pashinyan added.

He noted that Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has stated that if we look at Tsarist Russian maps, Lake Sevan does not exist there and has a different name. “There is a need to clarify what Aliyev said, we must make a choice. Regarding the topic of return—in the context of historical homeland, that is a very dangerous thing. From which year does the historical homeland start? For example, can the 70s BCE be a starting point or not? Someone says that the most legitimate starting point in history is the period from March to November 1920, and they can justify it. The other side says there is a need to go back 500 years,” the Armenian premier said.

According to him, Yerevan is capable of assuming political leadership. “If anyone refuses or will refuse, let them say it directly. No need for insinuations,” he concluded.

To recall, Aliyev on Monday called Armenia’s Lake Sevan “Lake Goycha” and announced the need to settle Azerbaijanis in Armenia.

It should be noted that the Azerbaijani leadership began using the aforesaid invented name for Lake Sevan several decades ago, long before the Nagorno-Karabakh flags appeared in the Armenian parliament chamber.