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Public and political activist Edgar Ghazaryan, a former chef of the Constitutional Court staff and Armenia’s former ambassador to Poland, has posted on his Facebook page a photo of the fourth round of normalization talks between the Armenian and Turkish special envoys, Ruben Rubinyan and Serdar Kilic, held in Vienna on July 1.

The photo also features Armenian Ambassador to Iran Arsen Avagyan, who attended the meeting.

“It turns out that an ambassador officially carrying out diplomatic mission in one country, whose residence is in the capital of Iran, participates in a diplomatic meeting in a third country in an effort to help normalize relations with a fourth country. This is perhaps an unprecedented phenomenon in diplomacy and a disgrace,” Ghazaryan wrote.

“An ambassador temporarily leaving his mission place notifies the host country's Foreign Ministry and diplomatic corps of his temporary absence in a special statement (notice) and in the same way notifies of his return.

“In Arsen Avagyan's case, after receiving such an official notification, the Iranian Foreign Ministry can learn from the official website of the Armenian Foreign Ministry that the diplomat accredited in their country, that is, the ambassador, is not in his country’s capital, but in the capital of a third country, participating in normalization talks with Turkey. It is a scandalous fact that raises many questions,” the politician said.

He hailed Arsen Avagyan as one of Armenia's best experts on Turkish studies.

“He has an excellent knowledge of Turkish history and the intricacies of Armenian-Turkish relations. He served as Armenia’s permanent representative to the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC, residence in Istanbul) twice in 2001-2005 and 2015-2019. In all likelihood, this was the reason why he was invited to this meeting,” Ghazaryan said.

“However, if knowledgeable and prudent people had been at the helm of government and diplomacy in Armenia, he would not have been appointed Armenia's ambassador to Iran, but rather Armenia's official representative in the Armenian-Turkish normalization process with the status of ambassador-at-large, rather than a servant to serve incompetent and uninformed Ruben Rubinyan.

“Nikol Pashinyan, who is low literate and has never had anything to do with diplomacy, does not trust professional diplomats and sends his wife and unfit teammates to foreign missions, appointing professionals as their servants in violation of diplomatic principles and norms, which by no means goes without consequences,” he noted.