Moscow: Narek Karapetyan has never had Russian citizenship

ArmInfo. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin refuted an Armenian media report alleging Russian diplomats are acting against Armenia's interests. He claimed  this fake news is fueling a spy mania against Russia.

"Recently, an anti-Russian media outlet published an outright libel,  completely unrelated to reality, alleging that the Russian Embassy in  Armenia, in Yerevan, its employees, and diplomatic staff, are  allegedly engaged in some kind of illegal activity against Armenia's  interests," the Deputy Foreign Minister told journalists after a  meeting of the Russian Security Council's special working group.  Galuzin noted that the media outlet is "fueling a spy mania campaign  against Russia."

"Of course, I must say that this is absolutely untrue, a complete  fake," the diplomat noted. He noted that the normal activities of a  diplomatic mission, "the performance by a diplomatic mission of  functions expressly prescribed in the 1961 Vienna Convention on  Diplomatic Relations, are being distorted and completely maliciously  presented as some kind of unauthorized activity."

"And things are being attributed, including to Armenian politicians  in this context, that absolutely never happened," Galuzin added,  according to TASS.

"Narek Karapetyan (the nephew of businessman and prime ministerial  candidate Samvel Karapetyan - TASS note) never had Russian  citizenship, yet it is claimed that he did and does," he cited as an  example.

The Russian Deputy Foreign Minister assured that Moscow "has given,  is giving, and will continue to give a due rebuff and will respond  accordingly."

Earlier, the Latvian Insider reported that the leader of the Strong  Armenia party, Samvel Karapetyan, was allegedly an agent of the  Russian FSB, and that Narek Karapetyan was a Russian citizen. Both  figures denied these claims, but the government's propaganda machine  continues to circulate this news.  Furthermore, the Investigative  Committee of Armenia opened a criminal case for Narek Karapetyan's  concealment of dual citizenship. Furthermore, the Central Election  Commission of Armenia stated that it had verified Narek Karapetyan's  background and found that he does not hold dual citizenship.