The Head of the Armenian Institute for International and Security Affairs, Styopa Safaryan, considers the Crimea-NKR comparisons made by Nikolai Ryzhkov, Co-Chair of the Armenian-Russian Inter-Parliamentary Commission, inequitable. Note that Ryzhkov did not want to compare the NKR and Crimea, claiming that there is a significant difference. “Crimea is historically a Russian territory, we were one territory for centuries and whether it is our fault that Khrushchev gave it to Ukraine in drunk. Crimean residents at their own will decided by referendum to join the composition of Russia, so what we were supposed to do, to tell them, no, do not enter into your native territory?”
“He had brought obviously inequitable and baseless argument. Much longer, if not a few hundred years, like it is with Crimea, then a few thousand years ago, Karabakh was inhabited by Armenians and was a part of the Armenian kingdom. Ryzhkov would be better to be acquainted with the maps of the ancient Armenia to see where Armenia’s sources end. Until the times when there was no Russia, Russian Empire and even the Crimea. If it comes to handing over the Crimea to Ukraine by Khrushchev in drunk, then it is worth saying that Stalin being extremely sober and with extremely far-sighted calculations, to receive the Muslim world support for his world-wide revolution and in exchange for the award to Azerbaijan for its Sovietization, surrendered to Azerbaijan, accordingly, Mr. Ryzhkov either is not obviously familiar with historical events, or tries to bring unsuccessful arguments. Perhaps, we can agree on one issue with Ryzhkov that the Crimea and the Nagorno-Karabakh are different in the sense that Karabakh’s self-determination is an exemplary precedent after the Cold War, whereas Crimea is its theatrical performances, indeed, a Russian invasion,” said Mr. Safaryan. He specifies Ryzhkov’s viewpoint by the chaos created under the Eurasian Economic Union. “Because if the question arises on positioning of customs checkpoint between Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia, then the same approach should be implied to Russia, on the border with Crimea. Therefore, this viewpoint is associated with growing great debate, which was not put by Armenia prior to accession to the EaEU, but there is a risk for it to blow-up in the future, if someone, let’s say Kazakhstan, raises such an issue.”
Arpine SIMONYAN
