Member of the Supreme Body of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaktsutyun political party Ishkhan Saghatelyan today posted the following on his Facebook page:

“In response to inquiries from several media outlets, I deem it necessary to publicly touch upon the statement by the President of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) that was made public by the President’s spokesperson.

The spokesperson particularly declared the following: “President Haroutyunyan does not accept official meetings with the political parties that question the policy led by the authorities of Armenia under the leadership of Nikol Pashinyan.”

Artsakh has always been and remains the axis of pan-national unity, and the institution of the President of Artsakh is the symbol of that unity. The pernicious approach to dividing the society into blacks and whites needs to be rejected, especially in Artsakh. It’s impossible to imagine or think that the President of Artsakh only meets with forces that are “blessed by Pashinyan”.

I’m truly sorry that this statement was made. It’s unprecedented since it’s not in the interests of the President of Artsakh and Artsakh in general and can’t be supported by the incumbent authorities of Armenia and Nikol Pashinyan personally. Thus, the statement needs to be proofread immediately.”