Fireworks in Yerevan and failure in Nakhichevan

A striking example of this is discussion in the Armenian parliament regarding situation when fireworks were set off at night in the capital. After people who were responsible for this weren't caught, Prime Minister told chief of the Yerevan police Valery Osipyan: "Do you want to say that someone did this, but we can't find them? Just like we can't catch people responsible for bribes, for burglaries... I'm surprised by this... You must resolve this issue yourself, or I will have to do it for you."

As Armenian blogger Oskan Kocharyan noted, "after this inappropriate and unimportant discussion, there were two questions to answer: If the country's leader is so concerned about fire prevention measures, how could he instruct two MPs from the Yelk bloc to set off firecrackers in the hall of the parliament just two months ago? And if he's is concerned about Yerevan's nightlife, how could he tell people to make as much noise as possible in the streets of the capital for several weeks. And his wife, Anna Akopyan, initiated a noisy night action. Are they the same people? Or maybe there are special times for such things?"

However, what's much more important is the fact that this situation shows that Pashinyan doesn't have competent team, and now politically inexperienced have to resolve issues (and there are a lot of them) that usually don't require such hands-on approach. Discussion about fireworks in the parliament is taking place at the time when Azerbaijan completed military operation in Nakhichevan. Azerbaijani troops took control over huge territory, including M2 highway (Yerevan - Goris), which is strategically important for Armenia. 

It's important to note that this is clearly not Azerbaijan's propaganda, since this information was also confirmed by Armenian sources. Editor-in-chief of the Hetq.am website, Edik Bagdasaryan, who criticized recent appointment of Artak Davtyan as head of the Armenian General Staff, notes: "Assigning Artak Davtyan to this post is pretty questionable, especially after what happened in the Nakhichevan section of the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the last few days. Azerbaijanis were able to advance and take control over huge territory."

While Azerbaijani television shows footage from liberated territories and says that Azerbaijan returned control over 11,000 hectares of territory, Yerevan's reaction looks pretty strange. How did Armenian military department respond? "Azerbaijani side appealed to Armenia on June 6 and 7, asking to allow several citizens to visit cemetery near the Gyunnut village. Such request was made for the first time. Armenian side, while remaining faithful to humanitarian norms and steps aimed at reducing tensions at the contact line, agreed to allow civilians to visit the cemetery," the Armenian Defense Minister official spokesman Artsrun Ovanisyan said, commenting on photos of Azerbaijanis visiting graves of their relatives in liberated territories, published by Azerbaijani media. The Armenian Defense Ministry's version can't be taken seriously, especially since data from the satellite shows otherwise. One of Armenian bloggers writes that Azerbaijan has decided "use chaos and irresponsibility, shown in all spheres of Armenia's life, and take advantage of this favorable moment. It advanced its positions, so now Armenia suffered its biggest loss of territories in the entire postwar period."