YEREVAN. – Speaking with reporters on Tuesday, Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia (RA) Nikol Pashinyan reflected on the uproar that has been raised regarding transgender person Lilit Martirosyan addressing from the National Assembly (NA) podium during past week’s parliamentary hearings on human rights.

“In 2015, [then] Armenia’s conservative (…) authorities—as they call themselves—have taken the passport of RA [male] citizen Vagharshak Martirosyan, and gave him the passport of RA [female] citizen Lilit Martirosyan,” Pashinyan stated, in particular.

He added that if the then ruling Republican Party of Armenia has issued a passport to that person, it has granted the latter all the rights and obligations of an Armenian citizen.

Pashinyan expressed a view that when he first heard of the above-said incident at the Armenian parliament, he thought that this was a well-organized provocation against the revolution and new government of Armenia.

“[But] there is also the other side,” Nikol Pashinyan added. “It was the hearings of the [NA Standing] Committee on Human Rights [and Public Affairs]. Is Lilit Martirosyan a human? Or not a human? Let everyone (…) answer this question.”