“The meeting between the ministers of foreign affairs of Armenia and Azerbaijan revealed the truth about the long-told lie that there are no negotiations and that there is no document on the table,” former parliament deputy and political analyst Karen Bekaryan said during the “Artsakh on the Verge of Massive Changes, External and Internal Security” forum organized by the Voskanapat analytical center.
Bekaryan said that, as a result of the three-day meetings, five announcements were made including the announcement made by the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. However, the announcement only mentions the political process, its principles, and different elements. “We remember well that the phrase ‘principles and elements’ was also used during the formation of the Madrid Principles and its other variations. The fact is that a document and a process exist. The minister even signed it.” According to the political analyst, the statements about how there is no document on the negotiations table were only made to confuse the public.
During his press conference in Kapan, the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan called upon the candidates for the Artsakh presidential elections to provide their opinions on whether or not they agree with negotiating around a specific document. He promised that he will negotiate within the framework of that document and it will quickly be placed on the negotiations table. Karen Bekaryan considers this to be a poor decision. He noted, “Not all the candidates responded and those who did entered a race, saying that they do not agree with this document. It seems that the subject not participating in the process, in this case, the candidate, is responding to something that they do not have a full picture of. But the most unique thing is taking place here. In Geneva, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, clearly not caring about the Prime Minister’s question, spoke about the document that the Prime Minister was allegedly referring to. A question arises. If the Minister of Foreign Affairs can ignore the Prime Minister’s instructions, we needed to have seen that. If he did not ignore the Prime Minister, then who was this drama for? What was the purpose of this drama? This process has transformed and spread on an international level, as well as the three member states of the UN’s Security Council. There is no logic in any of this.”
Referring to the statement made by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that it would best for the representatives elected by the people of Artsakh to participate in the negotiations process as soon as possible, Karen Bekaryan noted, “This statement was in reference to the document that decided the participating sides in the Minsk Conference of 1992. In this document, it said, “The representatives chosen by the people of Artsakh, as well as others.” Azerbaijan tried to use the “as well as others” portion of the statement to include its own community. One of the biggest arguments Azerbaijan has made over the years was that the Azeri community is also a part of the people of Artsakh. We are working with idiots or conspirators.”
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Karen Bekaryan also thinks that, during the negotiations in Geneva, one of the co-chairs legitimized that “Azeri community of Artsakh” by meeting with one of its representatives. This was the US Ambassador to Azerbaijan. “Is our MFA opening a path for this community?” Karen Bekaryan asked.
Nelly Grigoryan
