A large pre-election rally of the "Armenia" alliance took place in Freedom Square in Yerevan

ArmInfo. If the 2021 elections were fateful for the lost Artsakh, then the 2026 elections will be fateful for Armenia, as today we face a choice between Armenia and Western Azerbaijan. This was stated by Anna Grigoryan, a member of the Armenian parliament from the "Armenia" alliance, during a rally held today in Freedom Square in Yerevan.

According to her, the past years have been the hardest for the Armenian people in modern history. In the 21st century, the Armenian people witnessed ethnic cleansing. This is a historical tragedy, and the MP believes that people must bear full responsibility for it. "We witnessed indifference when Azerbaijanis occupied our sovereign territories. Not only that, but today's authorities even talk about territories that must be surrendered to the enemy. And should we allow Aliyev's puppet to surrender new territories to the enemy? This means that June 7 will not just be an election day, but a day to defend the territorial integrity of Armenia." According to Grigoryan, we witnessed the breaking of the doors of the Holy Etchmiadzin cathedral and the arrest of clergymen, which means June 7 is not just an election day, but a day to defend our Holy Church.

Addressing the gathered supporters, the leader of the "Armenia" alliance, candidate for Prime Minister, the first President of the Republic of Artsakh, and the second President of Armenia, Robert Kocharyan, noted that the people's patience has run out. This government is insatiable. It is insatiable not only regarding food, but also regarding human lives and human suffering. And it accompanies and "covers up" this suffering of the people with festivals. The famous Roman phrase "bread and circuses" has been changed in this country to "death and circuses."

According to him, the authorities could make mistakes, because any government can commit errors, but not in such numbers. "They exhausted their limit of mistakes long ago. We cannot allow the people to pay for these mistakes with their own lives. But one gets the impression that the authorities are still not satiated, still not satisfied with the amount of this suffering," Kocharyan noted.

According to the country's second president, today the authorities have confronted the people with new, economic problems. "These are facts, not an emotional assessment. Today, Armenia's economy is directly linked to the economies of the EAEU countries. And today, effectively, Armenia has been given an ultimatum: 'decide where you stand'. If by some miracle this government remains, Armenia's economy will find itself in a deep crisis. And for what? For the sake of one man wanting to stay in his chair, gluing himself to this chair? Then it must be torn away from him. If something else gets torn away along with it, that is not our problem. I do not know why, but we are being artificially turned into an enemy of Russia. We are being stubbornly led down the route of Ukrainization. We do not need this. We need allied relations with Russia and very good relations with both Europe and the US. We need 'and/and', not 'either/or'. This can be done, and we have done it before. We just need to stop playing on the contradictions of big countries. Stop provoking big countries and thereby putting our own people at risk. If you love your people, you will never allow them to be put at risk," Kocharyan noted.

He called on the country's population to put up a barrier against this policy. "The problem is not with the people, not with the state; the problem is with one man, because of whose behavior the people of Armenia are experiencing a crisis, the fear of an impending war, a sense of national humiliation, and poverty. All these problems are solvable, I know how they can be solved, and we will do it. We have rich experience in effective management and development," Kocharyan emphasized.