Armenian Prime Nikol Pashinyan, after a failed attempt to justify the Azerbaijani soldier in his press briefing today, was forced to say that the soldier committed a crime, but tried to equate the Azerbaijani saboteur with politically persecuted Armenian second president Robert Kocharyan, opposition Strong Armenia party leader Samvel Karapetyan, and former official Gagik Tsarukyan, TV5 reports.

And Kocharyan's office chief, Bagrat Mikoyan, reacted to Pashinyan's statements:

"I was almost sure that he [i.e. Pashinyan] will not say separately that the Azerbaijani soldier is a criminal. Otherwise, at the upcoming meeting, instead of [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan's book, they would give that soldier’s picture to his arms and picture.

Let's say this time the president saved himself from taking something in his arms. Unlike the current disgrace, Azerbaijani soldiers were not roaming about throughout Armenia and being treated with affection by prime ministers during President Kocharyan's reign," Mikoyan said.