Your trusted source

Edmon Marukyan, Armenia’s former ambassador-at-large and the leader of the Bright Armenia Party, has dismissed the “false” claims of government officials and experts that Armenia did not suffer any losses in 2024 in contrast to previous years.

“While it is natural to send positive messages to the public, they must be grounded in reality, not falsehoods. Misleading the people is unacceptable. The truth is that Armenia suffered significant losses last year,” he posted on Facebook on Friday.

“Armenia ceded territories under its control to Azerbaijan, while Azerbaijan not only failed to return the sovereign Armenian lands it had occupied, but also refused to withdraw its troops from those areas.

“As a result, Armenia surrendered another bargaining chip to Azerbaijan without gaining anything in return, making it the greatest loss of 2024. It was one of the last bargaining chips in our negotiating arsenal, which could have been used to demand the return of Armenian territories occupied by Azerbaijan. However, the areas were surrendered unilaterally, with no concessions from Azerbaijan in return.

"Meanwhile, the pro-government propaganda claims that 2024 was the “most peaceful year, free from losses”. Despite the concessions, Azerbaijan refused to release any of Armenian prisoners of war or other detainees,” Marukyan stated.