PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has described the burning of Turkey's flag during a torch march in Yerevan on April 23 as provocative and inciting tension.
According to the prime minister's press secretary Nazeli Baghdasaryan, Pashinyan condemned the act as irresponsible and unacceptable.
"Burning the flag of an internationally recognized state, especially a neighboring country, cannot be assessed otherwise by a head of state. This is clearly provocative behavior that incites tension," the spokesperson said, as reported by Armenpress.
Ishkhan Saghatelyan, a representative of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) Supreme Body in Armenia and an MP from the Hayastan faction, addressed questions at the Tsitsernakaberd memorial complex about why Azerbaijan's flag was not burned alongside Turkey's flag this year, Sputnik Armenia reported.
In previous years, both Turkish and Azerbaijani flags were burned ahead of the torch march.
"First, it is not Dashnaktsutyun that burns that flag, so nothing has changed in our views. Such decisions are made by the youth. One year they burn it (Azerbaijan's flag - ed.), another year they don't," Saghatelyan said.
The MP advised those raising such questions to keep their opinions to themselves, adding that few political forces maintain unchanged positions.
This year, the torch march was held under the slogan "The struggle continues."
According to National Assembly Speaker Alen Simonyan, burning the flag of a neighboring country casts a shadow over the meaning of April 24. He wrote on his Facebook page:
"On the eve of April 24, burning the flag of any country, especially a neighboring one, is meaningless, shameful, and strongly condemnable. It casts a shadow over the meaning of April 24. It is about remembrance, unity, and life, while such actions are petty and unacceptable provocations against peace and the future," he stressed.
This year's torch march was held under the slogan "The struggle continues," symbolizing the Armenian people's unbreakable will and persistent fight for justice. It began at Republic Square, where Turkey's flag was burned, and proceeded to Tsitsernakaberd.
Source: PanArmenian.Net
