Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan made a sharp statement about his country's membership in the Collective Security Treaty Organization, stressing that Yerevan does not intend to fear a possible expulsion from the bloc. Responding to journalists' questions, the head of government compared expectations of Armenia to the plot of the Armenian fairy tale "The Death of Kikos," according to infohub.kz.
According to Pashinyan, Yerevan "should not be threatened with expulsion from the organization." The politician noted that Armenia is expected to behave in a manner similar to that described in the tale.
"It is also interesting that there are clichés regarding the opinion that Armenia should have this particular opinion — mainly following the logic of the death of Kikos: a man went to propose marriage, a son was born to him, named Kikos, a hat with a pompom was put on, taken off his head, he fell on a stone — oh, Kikos, oh, sonny. Our opinion is that if they want to expel us — let them expel us. If they don't want to expel us — let them not expel us," Pashinyan said.
As the publication reports, in the tale "The Death of Kikos," a peasant sent his eldest daughter to fetch water from a spring, where, upon seeing a huge tree, she imagined how one day she would marry, give birth to a son named Kikos, he would grow up, climb the tree, fall, hit a stone, and die. In the end, the whole family held a funeral for the unborn boy, after which they returned to their former lives.
Furthermore, according to the prime minister, Armenia has never raised the issue of the Russian military base. At the same time, he noted that the base is not of vital importance for the country's security.
"We don't need this military base. Russia is our friendly country. If they want to remove it, let them remove it, let them remove it tomorrow. If they want to stay, we are ready to discuss the conditions for keeping the base, which we don't need, in the Republic of Armenia," he said.
Pashinyan explained this position by "the events of September 2022." He also stressed that until recently, the topic of the base had not been publicly discussed by either Armenian or Russian officials.
Earlier, the Armenian prime minister stated that the country would soon begin the process of applying for membership in the European Union. The head of the Armenian government also allowed for the country's expulsion from the CSTO and noted that in such a case, Yerevan would not have to independently decide on withdrawing from the organization.