Pashinian insisted on Thursday that “there is no direct threat to the civilian population of Karabakh” after two days of heavy fighting that left dozens of Karabakh civilians dead and caused thousands of others to flee their homes. His statement sharply contrasted with what Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said during an emergency session of the UN Security Council just a few hours later.
Mirzoyan accused Azerbaijani forces of committing atrocities as part of “ethnic cleansing” in Karabakh planned by Baku. He pointed to “shocking” reports of children killed and unaccounted for and thousands of families displaced as a result of the offensive. The Karabakh Armenians are facing growing death threats made on Azerbaijani social media accounts, he said.
Addressing the Security Council, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and her French counterpart Catherine Colonna also condemned the Azerbaijani assault, citing its grave humanitarian consequences. The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, expressed serious concern over the safety of Karabakh’s residents in a statement issued ahead of the council meeting.
“Forced displacement of the civilian population through military or other means will be met with a strong response by the EU,” warned Borrell.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken criticized Baku shortly after start of the Azerbaijani offensive, saying that it is “worsening an already dire humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh.”
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov seized upon Pashinian’s statement in his speech at the Security Council meeting.
“I want to bring the council’s attention to the fact that just a few hours ago the Armenian prime minister refuted these accusations, publicly admitting that there is no direct threat to civilians in Karabakh,” said Bayramov.
A senior aide to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev likewise pointed to Pashinian’s statement when he tweeted: “The unverified and unserious statements by the European Union, France and Germany are incomprehensible.”
Pashinian on Friday stood by his claim strongly condemned by his political opponents. His press secretary, Nazeli Baghdasarian, denied any contradiction between the claim and Mirzoyan’s UN speech.
Two retired Armenian diplomats hit out at Pashinian, portraying his remarks as further proof of his chaotic and incompetent rule.
“The prime minister said one thing the foreign minister a completely different thing,” said former Foreign Minister Avet Adonts, who resigned two years ago in protest against Pashinian’s policy on the conflict with Azerbaijan.
“You can’t do that, you just can’t do that, especially in such crisis situations,” Adonts told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
Another former deputy foreign minister, Artak Apitonian, said Pashinian undermined his own government’s case made during of the Security Council meeting.
“This is not the first time,” he said. “There have been many cases where our positions were deliberately weakened as a result of the prime minister’s statements.”