Edmon Marukyan, leader of the Bright Armenia party and former MP, stated on his Telegram channel that the awarding of the “Zayed Award for Human Fraternity” to Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has sparked strong reactions online. He emphasized that the prize was granted for efforts to promote peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Marukyan warned the public not to be misled by the propaganda surrounding the award. He insisted that the involvement of Charles Michel, a member of the award committee who visited Armenia, signals Azerbaijani influence: “Where Charles Michel is present, so is the hand of Azerbaijan.”
He reminded readers that Michel, well-known to the Armenian public, had proposed that “ethnic” Armenians should live in Nagorno-Karabakh under international mechanisms guaranteeing their security and rights.
“If Charles Michel’s vision was an ethnically cleansed and depopulated Artsakh, then that should have been stated honestly from the outset—and a prize offered accordingly.”
Marukyan recalled that just 12 days after a meeting in Brussels on August 31, 2023, involving Michel, Azerbaijan launched a large-scale assault on Armenia. He said Armenian sovereign territory was occupied and remains so today; a female Armenian soldier was mutilated; unarmed Armenian POWs were executed on the spot; and no international claims, investigations, or condemnations followed—there were zero consequences.
“Our people should not be deceived by the propaganda surrounding this award. On the contrary, we must clearly understand that where Charles Michel is, there is also the hand of Azerbaijan, because he does not represent justice, human rights, rule of law, or the values promoted by the EU,” Marukyan stated. “Michel is merely another miserable lobbyist for Aliyev, and this award was delivered to Pashinyan in support of the upcoming parliamentary elections—to mislead our people and re-elect the prize recipient.”
On January 20, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met in Yerevan with Secretary General of the Zayed Award for Human Fraternity Mohamed Abdel Salam and award committee members including former President of the European Council and former Belgian PM Charles Michel, and former Chairperson of the African Union Commission and former PM of Chad, Moussa Faki Mahamat.
