Alen Simonyan: Talks with Azerbaijan failed due to information leaks from Armenian side

Armenian parliament speaker Alen Simonyan admitted that in several cases, negotiations with Azerbaijan failed due to information leaks from the Armenian side.

According to Report, Simonyan told Armenian journalists that the information leak occurred due to ruling party deputy Hovik Aghazaryan.

"The Prime Minister [Nikol Pashinyan] comes and tells us details of the meeting with Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev, the prime minister shares information containing state secrets, and he makes it all public. Is this normal?" said Simonyan.

He noted that Armenian authorities spent over a year searching for the source of the information leak. "We searched for over a year to understand where the leaks were coming from. When it concerns party issues, it's one thing. But when it concerns Armenia's security issues, should everything remain as is? Some time ago, there were cases when negotiations (with Azerbaijan) failed, relations became strained also because we, conditionally speaking, violated agreements, spoke loudly about something, carried out leaks. And now try to prove that a member of this faction gave an interview or transmitted information not intentionally, but by mistake," the parliament speaker emphasized.

By decision of the Civil Contract party board, this week deputy Hovik Aghazaryan has been expelled from the party due to leaking confidential information of state and party significance, as well as gross violations of public moral standards.