Hovannisian headed to Karabakh on July 31 to attend his grandson’s baptism. Russian peacekeeping soldiers manning a checkpoint in the Lachin corridor did not allow him to enter the territory for still unknown reasons.
Speaking at a news conference in Yerevan, Hovannisian said that he still does not know why he was turned away. But he again held the government and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian in particular responsible for the travel ban.
Asked why Pashinian would want to bar him from visiting Karabakh, Hovannisian said: “I can’t speak for him.”
The Armenian Foreign Ministry put the blame on the Russian peacekeepers. In written comments to RFE/RL’s Armenian Service, it said that their actions ran counter to the terms of the Russian-brokered ceasefire that stopped the war in Karabakh in November 2020.
Hovannisian, who has repeatedly visited Karabakh since the ceasefire, also accused Pashinian of mishandling not only the war but also its aftermath and demanded the prime minister’s resignation. It must be followed by the formation of a provisional government, he said, presenting a list of individuals who he believes should join the “national trust council.”
Hovannisian, who had served as Armenia’s first foreign minister, announced no concrete plans to organize street demonstrations for that purpose.
The U.S.-born politician and his Zharangutyun (Heritage) party, which has not been represented in the Armenian parliament since 2017, did not join the daily anti-government protests which the country’s main opposition forces launched on May 1 in a bid to topple Pashinian.