Political figures and civic activists from Armenia and Artsakh have condemned Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s call to “lower the bar” regarding the status of Artsakh in negotiations on a peace deal with Azerbaijan.
On April 14, the Artsakh parliament adopted a unanimous joint statement demanding that the authorities of Armenia “abandon the current catastrophic position.”
“Any negotiation process between Armenia and Azerbaijan within the ‘peace’ agenda, which presupposes the forcible incorporation of Artsakh into Azerbaijan, as well as the signing of a document resulting from it, undermines not only the statehood of Artsakh, but also violates the inalienable right of the Armenians of Artsakh to live in their historical homeland,” the statement reads.
“No government has the right to agree in the negotiation process to lower the bar on status. [This is] unacceptable for Artsakh, as well as on the internationally recognized right to self-determination under the pretext of ‘peace’,” it continues.
Artsakh President Arayik Harutyunyan also stated that placing Artsakh under Azerbaijan’s control is “impossible” and “inadmissible” during an April 13 meeting with civil society representatives and administrative officials.
He presented three alternative options for the future status of Artsakh, including independence, union with Armenia or “some kind of relationship with Russia in a direct vertical framework.” He also suggested that the Russian peacekeeping forces should remain in Artsakh “indefinitely” as the “guarantors of the security of the Armenians of Artsakh.”
Pashinyan has come under fire for a speech he delivered at the National Assembly on April 13, during which he said that Armenia faces pressure from the international community to slightly lower its claims to Artsakh.
“Today, the international community clearly tells us that to be the only country in the world that on a bilateral level does not recognize the territorial integrity of an ally of Turkey, Azerbaijan, is a great danger not only for Artsakh but also for Armenia. Today, the international community again tells us to lower the bar a bit regarding the question of the status of Artsakh, and you will ensure a great international consolidation around Armenia and Artsakh. Otherwise, the international community says, do not rely on us, not because we do not want to help you, but because we cannot help you,” Pashinyan said.
He went on to say that the Artsakh conflict is “not a matter of territory but rather a matter of rights.”
“Status in the current situation is not a goal, but rather a means to guarantee the security and rights of the Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh,” Pashinyan said.
He addressed the National Assembly once again the day after his speech to say that he does not intend to surrender Artsakh to Azerbaijan.
“What I’ve been saying has been all about not surrendering Karabakh. We are saying that the people of Karabakh must not leave Karabakh, the people of Karabakh must live in Karabakh, the people of Karabakh must have rights, freedoms, and a status,” Pashinyan said.
He did not clarify what the status of Artsakh would entail.
Members of Pashinyan’s party also defended his speech. Civil Contract Party MP and head of the National Assembly foreign relations committee Eduard Aghajanyan said that the members of the Artsakh parliament “likely have not understood the content of the prime minister’s speech.”
“Any process cannot take place behind the backs of the people of Artsakh,” Aghajanyan said. “Any solution, as a result of which Armenians must leave Artsakh, is not acceptable for the Republic of Armenia.”
Later that same day, Civil Contract Party MP Vigen Khachatryan said the idea that Artsakh could have no future under the jurisdiction of Azerbaijan was “wrong.”
Pashinyan’s comments also came under criticism from domestic civil society members. A group of 11 civic activists released a joint statement stating that the government is involved in a process that could have “serious and dangerous consequences for the security of the citizens of Armenia and Artsakh and the guarantee of their fundamental human rights and can in itself endanger security and peace.”
“It is the responsibility of the Armenian leadership and international community to secure vital security guarantees and prevent the ethnic cleansing of the Armenians of Artsakh, which is inevitable if Artsakh is placed within Azerbaijan under any status,” the statement reads.
Opposition politicians have been calling for Pashinyan’s resignation. Former head of the National Security Service and chair of the Homeland Party Artur Vanetsyan announced on Sunday the start of an indefinite sit-in at Freedom Square to protest Pashinyan’s administration.
“The so-called ‘authorities’ have entered the last stage of the destruction of our state and statehood. We have no time to delay,” he wrote on Facebook. “There is a way to stop this destructive cycle: Armenians must wake up and become one fist again.”
Two veterans from the 2020 Artsakh War, Nver Kirakosyan and Artur Avagyan, announced on Monday that they would be joining Vanetsyan’s sit-in and launching a hunger strike.
“The purpose of the hunger strike is to draw the attention of the representatives of our generation to the situation around Artsakh,” Kirakosyan wrote on Facebook.
Meanwhile, Russia has indicated that it will act independently in mediating the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict.
On April 8, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused France and the US of being “caught up in a Russophobic frenzy” and refusing to collaborate within the format of the OSCE Minsk Group.
Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan had previously said that the sharp divide between Russia and the West over the former’s invasion of Ukraine has “sharply complicated the work of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs up to the level of joint discussions.”
France and the United States have not denied that they refuse to cooperate with Russia within the OSCE Minsk Group.
On April 13, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova announced that Igor Khovaev has been appointed as a special envoy of the Foreign Ministry on fostering the normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
During a press briefing the next day, US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said that the United States is “ready to engage bilaterally with like-minded partners, including through the role as an OSCE Minsk Group co-chair, to help countries find a long-term comprehensive peace.”
In response to a follow-up question regarding whether the United States is “shutting the door to Russia’s mediation efforts,” Price responded that he “can’t speak to the role that Russia might play in this.”
Lillian Avedian
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Out of touch with the core rights of the people of Artsakh. Who would think that Armenia would abandon Artsakh under of excuse if “lowering the bar” pragmatism. Patriots stand up.
I have said it a hundread times, Nikol is at best an average journalist and an incredibly naive and inexperienced diplomat, as is his FM Ararat. Both have the diplomatic skills of a sheep and they are sent to deal with wolves. They will be responsible for the destruction of our nation, as they simply fail to fathom that the Turks do not desire peace, in 10 years time azerbaijan will attack and take lake Sevan, as water & oil are what wars being fought for. We as an Armenian nation globally need to WAKE UP, money , arms, and soldiers is what we need, the turks know they are dealing with simpletons. Russians have already cast their vote about Nikol
PM Pashinyan has been rendered Incompetent and harmful to the country, because he lost his credibility after overseeing the defeat of Armenia’s Stronghold. He should’ve been removed by voting him out of office; but, the voters in Armenia foolishly voted to retain him. Here in California, we can’t vote to remove PM Pashinyan, and the so-called “snap election” failed to get rid of him. Just to explain my personal connection: I have Armenian Ancestry, despite that my last name is Germanic, and I live in Northern California.
Vaccilation as usual from the sneaky Pashinyan. It is supremely obvious to anyone who has an IQ above Room Temperature that it is a complete and total impossibility for Armenians whether in Armenia Proper or in the unoccupied part of Nagorno Karabakh to share living-space with Azerbaijan. The thoughtless opinions of the ‘ International Community ‘ are completely irrelevant. Almost no Azeris want to live in the cold uplands of N K, preferring the much warmer lowlands to the east. This issue about smaller parts of countries breaking away is found all over the World, from Eritrea to Taiwan to Catalonia to Scotland to Nagorno Karabakh doesn’t have a strong single policy worldwide. It should never be decided by violence. This is something the Turk cannot comprehend.
When a so-called “international community” tells you that they want to help you but can’t because you don’t recognize the “territorial integrity” of criminal Azerbaijani state artificially invented on your occupied homeland a century or so ago and that this illegitimate Azerbaijani state is an ally of genocidal Turkey, one of the very same community’s close and valuable NATO allies, you have to be a fool to trust such a community. This is blackmail pure and simple. The same two-faced international community defended self-determination for Kosovo in the Balkans paving the way for its split and independence from Serbia. This has nothing to do with what they claim. This is all about their self-interests at the expense of Armenia and Artsakh. They are heavily invested in the Caspian energy industry that pumps oil & gas into energy-hungry Europe, through terrorist Turkey the provocateur and the leader of the 2020 war, and are presenting it the way they do to scare us into submission to please the enemy to keep the energy flowing into Europe. Needless to say, the pipes carrying oil & gas from the enemy artificial territory to Europe should have been our number one target to grab their attention to our righteous cause. We did no such thing because they secured our guarantees against such an act while abandoning the false guarantees they sold to us throwing us under the bus.
Don’t believe what they say. In many ways they are the main causes of such catastrophes. They said this conflict can only be resolved peacefully yet they not only allowed this terroristic war be imposed on us, along with half dozen other terrorist states, but that they sat back and watched our destruction never lifting a finger to put their money where their mouths were. They sacrificed us for their interests. Look at what they are doing in Ukraine. They don’t get themselves directly involved in that conflict but they keep arming Ukraine which causes more bloodshed, exodus, and loss of territory because it is not Ukraine they care about but their own self-interests once again. Right or wrong, they care conducting a proxy war on Russia at the expense of Ukraine and its innocent populations.
What we need to do is to reject their cooked-up scheme and falsehood that is designed to split our people up into different political camps with fear-mongering and instead take our destiny into our own hands and united as one like we did thirty years ago. What is happening is due to complete foreign policy failure at the hands of unqualified morons. We have many allies throughout the world that agree with our positions and we need to tap into their resources instead of putting all our proverbial eggs in one basket and find common ground with the Russians because they are ones who there now and the others blackmailing us are not. We must be smart and never fall victim to this international community’s trap and be the battleground to secure their and only their interests. But this can’t happen until the current incompetent, dysfunctional and treasonous government is ousted because clearly they are not fighting for our interests and of the homeland. We must stand behind the army, the only TRUE guarantor of peace in the region, and once again remind and show that despicable and coward enemy what we can do to them. That criminal artificial Azerbaijan’s chicken-hawk Aliyev is a nothing but a paper-tiger and loud rabid barking dog in absence of terrorist Turkey.
How about relocating to Armenia for a start? It is very easy to deliver a sermon from Glendale about the importance of unity. Lead by example. No ?
Mir Ali
I have noticed you react to those of us whose tone and intellect intimidates you. You try to put us down by talking nonsense about us. I guess according to you anyone of us who shows his patriotism must be from Glendale ha? I laugh at you because you labeling as such those of us whose thoughts you find intimidating shows your sorry state of mind. When you stereotype us like that it shows our patriotism irritates and intimidates you. The nonsense that you direct at us, I suggest you direct that at the coward fake leader of artificial enemy state next door instead. In the 1990s Liberation War Aliyev, at his ripe military age, was MIA riding out the war in Russian and Turkish casinos. That’s why I call him a chicken-hawk. When duty called he turned into a chicken and went into hiding. When the war ended he turned into a hawk with pockets full of petrodollars. Today, he is the same coward as he was thirty years ago. Need I say more?
Furthermore, I’m not in the least bit surprised that you, as someone in support of our enemy artificial state next door, defending this sorry excuse for a leader Pashniyan under the disguise of “officially elected” leader to govern Armenia when in fact you defend this treasonous imbecile because you need someone like him, an incompetent defeatist, in office so you can impose your will on him. You don’t know under what circumstances he was elected and nor do you know the mentality of those gullible electorate who elected him yet you defend him because he is the perfect candidate our enemy can manipulate. You are not fooling anyone. Losers like him do not represent our people. He is going to be gone soon and the enemy state and its leadership will be the first to feel his absence once the Armenian patriots and nationalists free the country from his bondage.
If you are such defender of “officially elected” leaders then why is it that you don’t express similar thoughts about our enemy artificial state next door governed by the same Alyev KGB MAFIA clan since 1960s with no opposition? You think Aliyev the chicken-hawk leader of our enemy artificial state, a state well-known for bribery and nepotism, was elected officially with no opposition whatsoever? Not to mention his wife being appointed as Vice President which is truly laughable. She is a nobody but a place holder to extend Aliyev clan’s reign on power. You refer to our former leaders as oligarchs when Aliyev the “khan of Baku” is the most corrupt oligarch in the region whose family owns most of the wealth of that gas station he governs. It is no secret that Aliyev family has countless properties and palaces in different parts of the world with tens of billions of petrodollars stashed away overseas while his population lives on minimum wage. Teapot calling the kettle black!
Armenians have elected in free elections already two times president Pashinyan. The anti-pashinyan side is infact very loud, but being loud won’t delete the legitimacy of a democratic elected president.
Irrespective of what anyone says here Pashinyan was officially elected to govern Armenia whether you accept it or not. He has the public mandate, people had voted the crooked previous oligarchs who owned gold mines and stored their ill gotten wealth in shady island nations across the world.
At Klaus,
FYI, Pashinyan, aka Captain Disaster, WAS NOT elected democratically, as a matter of fact, on April 26, 2018 at the Freedom Square, in Yerevan, he told his supporters, ” Either I will be the Prime Minister of Armenia or Armenia will not have a Prime Minister”. That statement right there was a warning, that he would finish what he started on March 1, 2008. On that day,Captain Chaos and his hooligans, turned Yerevan into rubbles, where ten people died , 2 police officers and 8 hooligans. Free election my foot. BTW, the beginning of the END of his days are numbered.