In the second half of November, false rumors continued to circulate about the developments of the war. Contradictory information was spread about the entry of Azerbaijanis into the Sotk mine. The Foreign Ministry refuted the Prime Minister, stating there was no question of renouncing the city of Shushi at any stage of the peace process. This was not the only reason for the denial of the spokespersons of the departments.

The issue of handing over Shushi was not in the peace talks, instead, it was about the return of Azerbaijani refugees

On November 16, the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan made a statement in the National Assembly on preventing the war, which was denied by the Foreign Ministry spokesman minutes later.

Pashinyan particularly said, “My contacts and discussions over the past 2.5 years leave me in no doubt that the prevention of the war should have implied the Armenian side’s renunciation of the status of Nagorno Karabakh, the demand for mechanisms to clarify the status in the foreseeable future and Shushi,” (in the video from 49:12 minutes).

Minutes later, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Anna Naghdalyan posted on Facebook that “at no stage of the peace process was there a question of renouncing the city of Shushi.”

On the same day, in response to another MP’s clarifying question, the Prime Minister commented that in the unaccepted packages there was always the issue of the return of the forcibly displaced refugees, at least to Shushi (in the video from 1:33:20).

Officials blame each other, speakers deny

After the announcement of the ceasefire, the conversations started about the reasons for the defeat, the bad personnel-strategic policy. These public statements were followed by the denials of the spokespersons.

? On November 16, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Defense Shushan Stepanyan denied the assertion of the Chairman of the NA Standing Committee on Defense and Security Andranik Kocharyan. The latter announced during the briefing with the journalists on the same day, “Today the commander of our air force is a man who does not fly. There is no such thing in the world. Appointed Commander of the Air Force, Mr. Tonoyan.”

Stepanyan addressed Kocharyan with several points. She corrected the terminological error, not the “Air Force,” but the Aviation Department of the RA Armed Forces. She notified that the head of the department is appointed not by the RA Minister of Defense, but by the mediation of the Prime Minister, the President of Armenia.

As for the current leader, Colonel Gagik Aslanyan, Stepanyan wrote, “He is a first-class operating pilot, he flies four, including SU 30-SM type planes, he has more than 1,500 flight hours, he is rightly considered the highest professional in his field.”

? Former Chief of the General Staff of the Ministry of Defense Movses Hakobyan made loud noises during the November 19 press conference, he also stated that the Prime Minister didn’t have a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin until September 30.

The last idea was refuted with facts by the Prime Minister’s spokesperson Mane Gevorgyan. She posted the messages published on the official website of the Prime Minister. They confirmed that the leaders of Armenia and Russia had a telephone conversation on September 27 and September 29.

The author of Talaat Pasha’s letter is historian Hayk Konjoryan

On November 19, the letter of Talaat Pasha, one of the organizers of the Armenian Genocide, addressed to the Armenian people was spread on social networks and mushroom websites. In it, the characteristics of the Armenian was analyzed in detail, contrasting it with that of the Turk. However, a simple search revealed that the heartfelt analysis of the character of the Armenians is not of Talaat Pasha, a man who would later become a deputy.

It was written by historian Hayk Konjoryan on April 20, 2015, before the 100th anniversary of the Genocide. The letter was published on lragir.am. At the end of the article, its nature is mentioned – “futuristic”. In this case, Pasha is a historical-artistic figure to analyze the shortcomings of the Armenian people and the weaknesses of their character. The author’s name and profession is clearly mentioned at the beginning of the article.

There were no Armenian soldiers in Iran

The news that had spread on social networks claiming that 82 Armenian servicemen are in Iran did not correspond to reality. The text called on the parents of missing soldiers serving in Martuni, Jabrail and Vayk to approach the Iranian embassy in Armenia to get information about their children. The news was confirmed by neither the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia nor of Defense.

There was no order, call or pressure to remove the black ribbons

On November 24, hraparak.am wrote that the mayor of Yerevan “made an ugly decision.” According to their information, Hayk Marutyan “instructed the heads of the administrative districts of Yerevan” not to hang any more ribbons with the names of the victims of the war, and that those that have already been hung be removed ahead of their time.”

Hraparak.am, without referring to any statistics, claimed that “more than half of the population of Armenia lives in Yerevan” and concluded that the number of victims here is higher than in other cities of the regions. Therefore, “one will come across those ribbons here as well, meanwhile, they are hung in a few suburban secondary streets.”

Yerevan Municipality spokesman Hakob Karapetyan denied this news in a telephone conversation with media.am. Karapetyan informed that the use of mourning ribbons is not regulated by normative legal acts. They are not installed and they are not removed by any order. He added, “There is no prohibition, pressure or instruction related to the ribbons.”

The child from Artsakh is not lost

In mid-November, a video with the participation of a young child with different scenarios about him and his family was spread on social networks. A fundraiser was even organized to take care of the child who lost his family. However, later it turned out that the video is not new, the child is with the family.

Goris community deputy head Irina Yolyan informed on November 16 that the child had come to Goris from Artsakh a month ago. “The video was shot in September (according to the mother), and they have been in Goris for a long time, here we are providing the necessary food,” she wrote.

The military man who was pictured in the frame spoke about the details of shooting the video.

The official and unofficial information about the Azerbaijanis entering the Sotk mine did not match

On November 26, videos appeared on the Internet, that Azerbaijani servicemen broke the gates closing the Armenia-Karvachar road closed the day before and reached the entrances of the Sotk gold mine in Vardenis.

Harutyun Babayan, a deputy of the NA “Bright Armenia” faction, mentioned a number in his Facebook post, “80 Azeri soldiers.”

The Prime Minister’s spokesman and the Ministry of Defense denied the news that the Azerbaijani military had entered the territory of the Sotk gold mine. Meanwhile, Sotk village mayor Hakob Avetyan confirmed the opposite. Some media outlets contacted the mine workers. Gegharkunik Governor Gnel Sanosyan mentioned that the problem is connected with the location of the gate, “which is now under the stage of trilateral discussion.” He informed that the Azerbaijanis did not enter the territory of the mine.

As a result, it was confirmed that the largest gold mine in Armenia turns out to be on the new Armenian-Azerbaijani border.

The idea of Shushi being an “unfortunate, dull” city was circulating out of context

Prime Minister Pashinyan spoke about Shushi in the National Assembly on November 16. A number of users cut the word out of context, presenting that the Prime Minister had said “Shushi was an unfortunate, dull city. Did we need Shushi?” In fact, Pashinyan’s idea was not that we did not need Shushi. It was about the investments made in the care of the city.

“Shushi was sold: Who sold it? If they sold Shushi, they sold it during the last 30 years, because Shushi was an unfortunate, dull city. Did we need Shushi? If so, why was it in that condition?

They ask why the Artsakh President did his inauguration in Shushi. Imagine, the whole elite has considered for 30 years that Shushi is a city of Nagorno-Karabakh, the President of Artsakh has no right to hold an event there. Shushi was surrendered there,” said Nikol Pashinyan.

Sharmazanov’s Azerbaijani passport is fake

The news of RPA speaker Eduard Sharmazanov having an Azerbaijani passport was false and old. The photo was first circulated in 2018. Sharmazanov’s picture was placed on the copy of the Azerbaijani passport taken from Wikipedia.

Denials

❌ Former Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan denied the rumors that he was going to leave Armenia with his family.

❌ Writer Syune Sevada denied the publication of analitik.am that she is trying in every way to become the spokesman of the Ministry of Economy.

❌ NA Vice Speakers Lena Nazaryan and Alen Simonyan denied the rumors of buying new private houses.

❌ The information that 300 hectares of arable land in the village of Davit Bek, Syunik region, remained under the control of Azerbaijan did not correspond to reality. These are the lands belonging to Kubatlu that were used by the inhabitants of Syunik.

Arshaluys Barseghyan