Armenian people are humiliated in a way that, perhaps, has never happened in our centuries-old history.
NEWS.am spoke with Arshak Karapetyan, former head of the Intelligence Department of the RA Armed Forces, advisor to the RA Prime Minister for 2018-2021, former first deputy chief of the RA Armed Forces General Staff, former Minister of Defense, about involvement in the political struggle, Armenian-Russian relations and disagreements with the authorities. about
Many people in Armenia and the Diaspora are interested in why Arshak Karapetyan decided to make wide-ranging statements and enter the political struggle right now, two years after he was released from the post of Minister of Defense.
The thing is that before I did not think about engaging in politics and I did not imagine myself in politics. At that time, any of my statements could be considered political, and I did not want that. Now I, we all witnessed the loss of Artsakh and the treacherous behavior of the current authorities. As a result, the Armenian people are humiliated in a way that, perhaps, has never happened in our centuries-old history. Our enemy captured the leaders and generals of Artsakh (now it doesn’t matter how we treat them) in order to judge and humiliate them. As a patriot, I feel deeply offended. And many Armenians share that feeling.
In your address to the patriots, you accused N. Pashinyan’s government of cowardice and betrayal, calling the members of the government “a group of dilettantes and cowards”. Accusing the head of the country of betraying national interests is a very loud statement. Explain to our readers what, in your opinion, is the prime minister’s betrayal. At the same time, you appealed to the leadership of Russia, asking and demanding “to more decisively prevent attempts to destroy the Armenian people and their statehood”. How will you interpret your statements?
Let’s find out what betrayal is. Usually, when we say treason, we mean someone passing information to the enemy. But treason is also considered a conscious action or inaction in favor of the enemy, which led to serious consequences, in this case, the loss of Artsakh. It is treason to refuse to protect one’s own citizens, and Armenian citizens with Armenian passports lived in Artsakh. We are all witnesses to this betrayal, and I cannot find another word.
You never hid your sympathy for the Russian Federation, you graduated from the military academy in Russia. Some consider you a pro-Russian figure. In your statement, you also addressed “Russian brothers and allies”. However, against the background of the position of the Russian peacekeepers, which can be called at least passive, and, in general, Moscow’s recent actions, or rather, inaction, perhaps not everyone in Armenia will agree that the Russians are really our brothers. Many believe that Armenia should look for allies not in Moscow, but in Washington, Paris and Brussels. What is your opinion about the strategic vector of our country’s development?
In my message, I mentioned that I consider the mission of the Russian peacekeepers ineffective. As for the pro-Russian positions, I will say it clearly. I am pro-Armenian and have always been so. I studied not only in Russia, but also in the USA and Great Britain. And I have a good idea of the goals and problems of these countries. Our history has shown that the Armenian and Russian peoples are brothers. The graves of Russian soldiers have remained in Armenia since royal times. During the last few years, it was the Russians, the citizens of Russia who protected us, the Armenians, and died on our land, right? Remember the helicopter shot down in 2020 and the peacekeepers killed in Artsakh. I am sure that in our geopolitical conditions, Russia is the only country that is really interested in preserving the state of Armenia. But this is the topic of a separate conversation.
In your message, you used the concept of “state and citizen security” several times. It seems that you, as the former head of the Department of Defense, and the current authorities of Armenia have different ideas about security.
My point of view on issues of national security never coincided with the point of view of the current authorities of Armenia for the simple reason that they are, to put it mildly, not competent in this matter. They do not understand that National security is a comprehensive concept and consists of military, economic, energy security, etc. And to change the vector of national security, it is necessary to change not one component, but the whole. In our case, the change of the vector will lead to serious economic and energy problems. It will inevitably affect the export of our products to the Russian Federation, the supply of gas from the Russian Federation in general and its cost. And the consequences can be disastrous for our state. We have been building our country’s security system for decades. This system has ensured peace in our land for more than 30 years. Simultaneously