“The third president Serzh Sargsyan will fight for Karabakh not to be part of Azerbaijan. I will also fight for this not to happen. I will do everything, but we can not speak on behalf of the current Armenian authorities,” the second president of Armenia, Robert Kocharyan, stated at a press conference on February 17. If the Armenian authorities agree to the version of territorial integrity, then, according to Kocharyan, there will be no Armenians left in Karabakh in a short time, and the current authorities have already accepted that Karabakh should be part of Azerbaijan.
“We must rule out this option. The Armenian people should never agree to that, and we must fight to prevent that from happening. Our argument was the following: the events in Sumgait showed that the existence of Armenians in Azerbaijan is impossible, it is a threat to their lives and security. The 44-day war confirmed it even more. I have never negotiated over the option of Karabakh being part of Azerbaijan. I do not see Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan at all.”
Robert Kocharyan said that he also did not like the statement of the Russian President that Artsakh is an inseparable part of Azerbaijan and noted that if Armenia does not respond, do we have the right to demand from others? The journalist asked if he agreed with Vladimir Putin’s statement and why he did not oppose Putin. Robert Kocharyan said that he had the opportunity to communicate with Putin, but he is not the type to talk about that discussion. “You do not know whether I expressed an opinion during the conversation or not. We should not demand that others be more pro-Armenian than our government.”
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In his opinion, the reason for such a statement by the Russian president is also the realities that happened during and after the war. “If the authorities of our country do not respond to Aliyev’s statements that the issue is finally resolved, then what do you expect Armenia to respond to Russia’s statements? The Russian president listens to the statements of Aliyev, Erdogan, and the Turkish Foreign Minister and does not hear any response from Armenia. Do you want the Russian President to be more Armenian than the Armenian Prime Minister? Do you want the Russian Foreign Minister to be more Armenian than the Armenian Foreign Minister?”
Robert Kocharyan reminded, “When I participated in the negotiation process, there was no document that would assume that Artsakh is part of Azerbaijan. In Key West, we even discussed the option of connecting Artsakh to Armenia. My approach here is clear.”
Nelly GRIGORYAN
