Pashinyan Denies Strong Armenia Claims About 300,000 Azerbaijanis Coming to Armenia

YEREVAN — Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has denied claims circulated by representatives of the “Strong Armenia” alliance that 300,000 Azerbaijanis would come to live in Armenia if the current government is reelected in the upcoming parliamentary elections.

Pashinyan, who is on leave to participate in the election campaign, made the remarks during a meeting with residents of the Parakar community in Armavir Province.

“The three-headed party of war has now invented a new lie, claiming that if the Civil Contract party wins the elections and Pashinyan is reelected prime minister, 300,000 Azerbaijanis will return to Armenia. There has never been such an issue on our agenda with Azerbaijan, nor on our international agenda in general. Today, these people are spending millions of dollars to create that agenda and import it into the political life of the Republic of Armenia. Only foreign spies act this way,” Pashinyan said.

The leader of the Strong Armenia alliance, Samvel Karapetyan, as well as other representatives of the alliance, have repeatedly claimed that “if Armenia’s current government is reelected, 300,000 Azerbaijanis will come to live in Armenia.” Despite repeated denials by representatives of the ruling party, Strong Armenia has made the claim one of the main themes of its election campaign.