Our priorities: The pillars of the demand for the return of Artsakh must be strengthened
This article was originally published in Western Armenian (Արցախի Վերադարձի Պահանջատիրութեան Կռուանները Պէտք Է Ամրացնել) in Asbarez. The author translated it for The Armenian Weekly.
The war unleashed by Azerbaijan in 2020, and the subsequent ongoing use of force to advance its endless demands, has one goal: to irreversibly close the issue of Artsakh and consolidate the occupation of Artsakh. Unfortunately, the geopolitical conditions were established in favor of the enemy’s aspirations, and the world silently watched a genocide carried out in violation of international law.
The impact of the pre- and post-war foreign policy pursued by the Armenian authorities is also significant, as it has poured water into the enemy’s mill to close the issue of Artsakh.
The Armenian people, and particularly the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, cannot reconcile with this assertion. Artsakh, as a homeland for millennia and an independent entity for more than three decades, has every legal and historical basis to be recognized as Armenian territory under all human and international legal provisions. Moreover, current geopolitical configurations cannot serve as a gravestone for the Artsakh issue as long as the Armenian people adhere to the Arabic proverb: “A right is never lost when there is a claimant behind it.”
Therefore, all means must be employed to keep the Artsakh issue open, and the pillars of the demand for Artsakh’s return must be continually strengthened. These assertions were not imaginary in the last decades of the 20th century and are not imaginary today, if we manage to restore the united will of the Armenian people and free ourselves from any submissive or anti-national retreat and empty rhetoric.
- The first pillar of the demand for the return of Artsakh is to keep the Artsakh Armenians united within Armenia. By making the indigenous Armenians of Artsakh, who suffered genocide and displacement, a subject of national concern, the Armenian people will strengthen the struggle to liberate Artsakh. As the frontline of our national liberation struggle, fulfilling the needs of Artsakh Armenians is a national duty, not as humanitarian aid, but as a strategic factor and a gate to our national security.
- Maintaining and strengthening the state institutions representing the collective will of Artsakh Armenians is an important lever in the struggle for international legal recognition of their return with guarantees of collective and security assurances. An essential pillar in keeping the issue of Artsakh alive is the preservation of an elected representative body, which can serve as the legitimate voice of the oppressed Artsakh Armenians. Every attempt to dismantle these institutions should be seen as an anti-national step to close the Artsakh issue.
- The ongoing sham trials in Baku of military-political leadership and other captives who made invaluable contributions to the liberation and defense of Artsakh is a blatant attempt by the enemy to break the will of the Armenian people and close the issue of Artsakh. The silence and indifference shown in this regard are not only morally condemnable but also a criminal stance against national rights. Securing their release reaffirms the justice of the Armenian people’s struggle.
- Today, the focal point of the Artsakh struggle is the right to a collective, guaranteed return. Therefore, all legal, political and diplomatic pan-Armenian efforts must be guided by the realization of this right as a starting point for the liberation of Artsakh.
Some may consider the above as revenge, others view it as delusion, and some regard it as obstacles to their false peace. However, for the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, which believes in a dignified peace, these priorities are based on our national inalienable rights and principles in accordance with the letter and spirit of international law. Fundamentally, they stem from our national security considerations and can be supported by influential international backing.
Khajag Mgrdichian
