Armenian prime minister faces dilemma amid Karabakh junta provocations How will Pashinyan respond?

"Some circles from Karabakh IDPs are taking steps that threaten Armenia's national security." Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said this while commenting on the words of the head of the liquidated separatist junta Samvel Shahramanyan in an interview with Le Figaro that the "Karabakh government in exile" continues to operate in Yerevan.

"I want to make it clear that there is only one government in Armenia that is sitting in this room. If necessary, appropriate measures should be taken so that external forces cannot use certain circles to create a security threat," Pashinyan said, adding that "all those who cross the line of respect for the state should get a reaction."

This story is interesting for a number of reasons. To begin with, Nikol Pashinyan had more than two years to resolve the issue with the Karabakh junta in a tough way, without bringing the matter to a 44-day war. But he then provoked the war himself, making it inevitable by declaring that our occupied territories belonged to Armenia. He made trips to Shusha and Khankendi, on his orders money and weapons flowed from Armenia to the Karabakh junta. The amount of the latter cannot be counted at all.

To this day in the liberated territories, there are still found caches of weapons and ammunition that were delivered to the militants from Armenia. So, Pashinyan should ask himself questions about this issue. Yes, now he declares respect for the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and speaks about the need to return four out of eight still-occupied villages to the country. But this is a forced change of rhetoric of Nikol Pashinyan. He cannot say otherwise after Azerbaijan won the 44-day war and conducted a brilliant one-day anti-terrorist operation. Especially in view of official Yerevan's attempts to portray itself as a supporter of peace. At the same time, it is important to keep in mind the situation after Azerbaijan's anti-terrorist operation in the Karabakh region.

A truly provocative statement was made by Vladimir Grigoryan, who identifies himself as an "advisor" of the last head of the Karabakh junta, Samvel Shahramanyan. He claimed that the "decree" on the abolition of the Karabakh junta allegedly no longer exists. This provocative statement was made only three months after the anti-terrorist operation, following which Shahramanyan stated that the so-called "Nagorno Karabakh Republic" would cease to exist on January 1, 2024.

Today we see continuing provocations by representatives of the Karabakh junta, who, which should be especially alarming to Pashinyan, make provocative speeches in the French press. It turns out that the French direction is far from being fully controlled by official Yerevan, and Le Figaro is ready to provide a tribune to Samvel Shahramanyan, whom the Armenian authorities call a nobody.

Yes, Baku has long recognized that the deputy editor of the oldest French publication Le Figaro, Jean-Christophe Buisson, has a very peculiar understanding of freedom of speech and thought. Yes, the very fact of the interview with Shahramanyan in this publication is a provocation, which was also noticed in Azerbaijan. But this provocation is just another link in the chain of anti-Azerbaijani provocations by France.

Another thing is that all this provocativeness on the French side is also hurting Nikol Pashinyan. He now faces a difficult dilemma - how to react to what has happened? After all, in fact, Shahramanyan demonstrated a disregard towards the position of the Armenian prime minister. And there are no guarantees that he will not continue to act like that. Accordingly, reasoning sensibly, Pashinyan should move from words to deeds, giving a command to the relevant structures to find an opportunity to arrest the last leader of the Karabakh junta.

But Pashinyan understands that such a step could lead to even greater tension in Armenian society. It has already been brought to a head, fragmented and demonstrates an attitude towards the Armenian authorities that is not much better than towards the opposition. In these conditions, when the revanchists have a lot of money, weapons and outside support, a radical solution to the Shahramanyan issue is a dangerous decision for Pashinyan. But he can no longer remain idle. Is it a vicious circle? No, there are options for resolving the issue. Baku will be watching how Pashinyan will solve it with all the ensuing consequences from all this.