“We need to be careful”: Pashinyan on Shirak governor’s scandalous statement

Nikol Pashinyan, Prime Minister of Armenia, commented on the scandalous statement by David Arushanyan, Governor of Shirak.

As a reminder, the scandal was sparked by a post by David Arushanyan, Governor of Shirak Province, which read: “Gyumri residents are not your ‘Ivans.’” The Russian Embassy in Armenia had earlier also expressed bewilderment over the statement.

According to Pashinyan, there are no grounds for dismissing the governor. He added that he is not familiar with the details of the situation, but said that one should be correct and careful in one’s statements.

“If something was done carelessly, I regret it. I hope the situation will be corrected and resolved,” he added.

It should be noted that Maria Zakharova, Spokesperson for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the previous day that Moscow expects a reaction from the Armenian authorities to the Shirak governor’s remark about “Ivans.” According to her, with such statements the official humiliated his own people.