Armenian President resigns. Pashinyan found out about it a few hours before it went public

Armenian President Armen Sarkissian has announced that he has decided to resign. "I thought for a very long time and decided to resign from the post of President of the Republic of Armenia after four years of active work. This decision is absolutely not emotional and comes from a certain logic. The President doesn’t have the necessary tools to influence the fundamental processes of domestic and foreign policy of the country in these difficult times. At this difficult stage for our country, when national unity is needed, the presidential institute should not become the target of gossip and conspiracy theories, thereby distracting the attention of society from the most important problems," the statement of Armen Sarkissian reads.

Alen Simonyan, President of the National Assembly of Armenia, said that Armenian President has a week to withdraw his resignation application. "If the President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian does not withdraw his application for resignation, then a protocol shall be made on the termination of his powers, which shall be signed and promulgated by the President of the National Assembly. The resignation shall be deemed adopted from the moment of promulgation of the protocol." 

Seyran Ohanyan, the leader of "Armenia" (Hayastan) faction, commented on the resignation of the President. "Armen Sarkissian's resignation allows us to say that serious internal and external processes may begin, which is a blow to the Republic of Armenia, and he avoids all this," Ohanyan told journalists at a briefing. 

When asked if the "Armenia" (Hayastan) faction is going to nominate a presidential candidate, Ohanyan replied: "I can say that his resignation is possibility for new presidential elections, and our alliance has something to say in these elections. After the discussion, we will inform about it. I believe that the person who has great authority not only in Armenia, but also in the Diaspora should be elected President of the Republic," Ohanyan said.

Nikol Pashinyan said that he found out about it a few hours before the announcement. "I found out about it (Armen Sarkissian's resignation -ed.) 3,5 hours before publication. He called me a few hours before and we talked. I asked if he was discussing the issue with me, or telling me that he had made a decision. I tried to understand whether there is a possibility to discuss this decision or not, after which the president said that he had made a decision."

Pashinyan answered questions about establishing relations with Turkey and Azerbaijan at online press conference

"Do we want to open the Armenia-Turkey border? Yes, we are sincere in that position. It did not happen then (In 2009 - ed.), now we must try to take into account the previous experience," Nikol Pashinyan said.

Answering the question to what extent it is possible for Turkey to put forward preconditions for the normalization of relations again, Pashinyan emphasized. "Yes, there were no preconditions in the Armenian-Turkish protocols of 2009, but later preconditions appeared. We cannot guarantee that this will not happen again. We need to understand how interested the parties are. The process is transparent from the very beginning of the political negotiations. This has never been the case before."

The Armenian PM mentioned that they have no secrets from the public. "Our policy will be in the realm of public announcements. But constantly leaking working information will not benefit the process."

One of the questions at online press conference of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was about the latest statement by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev․ "We don't want a third war, we have no such plans, we want Armenia to finally recognize the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, but if we see that there is a threat to us, that threat will be destroyed." The journalist asked whether Armenia is going to recognize the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

"Recently, an analyst voiced a very important remark during our discussion. He drew attention to the fact that the statements made from Azerbaijan are similar to the statements made in Armenia after 1994. For example, when Azerbaijan makes a statement that the Nagorno-Karabakh issue has been resolved, this analyst drew my attention to the fact that after 1994, for decades, statements were made from Armenia and Artsakh that the Nagorno-Karabakh issue was resolved," Pashinyan said.

"Much has been said about the signing of a peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan․ We also believe that a peace treaty should be signed between Armenia and Azerbaijan, but before signing, that document should be formed, it is a result of negotiations. Those negotiations must take place. Yes, Armenia is ready for negotiations," Pashinyan added.

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