Aravot.am’s interlocutor is Nelli Baghdasaryan, Advisor to the President of the Republic of Artsakh on International Relations
– The topic of Artsakh was present in the discussions of the Munich Security Forum in all three formats. In particular, during the Pashinyan-Blinken-Aliev tripartite meeting, which the Secretary of State organized, within the framework of the Munich conference on South Caucasus issues, during the panel discussion entitled “Move the mountains? Building Security in the South Caucasus” and the post-Munich panel, in the interview given by the President of Azerbaijan to the Azerbaijani media. What are your general impressions from discussing the Artsakh topic at the Munich conference?
– The main conclusion made after these discussions is that if before Azerbaijan tried to get rid of the 1994 ceasefire agreement, now the main task of Azerbaijan is to get rid of the 2020 obligations assumed by the tripartite agreement of November 9. It was evident in the discussions in Munich that Azerbaijan is preparing theoretical foundations for further new practical steps; therefore, it is a problem to prevent them. Ilham Aliyev’s “officially put forward proposal” of placing checkpoints between Lachin and the so-called “Zangezur Corridor” should be considered as such. The discussion in Munich was the first meeting after the Pashinyan-Aliev Sochi meeting in October. According to established practice, Azerbaijan adds new illegal demands to its extremist package after each discussion.
– The Lachin Corridor has been closed for 73 days, but Aliyev claimed again in Munich that it is open; unfortunately, without getting an answer to his lie.
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– It is essential that following the Pashinyan-Blinken-Aliev tripartite meeting, the US State Department spokesman Ned Price stated that during the discussion, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken emphasized “the need for free and open commercial and private transit through the Lachin Corridor” when the Azerbaijani President and the entire Azerbaijani propaganda spread misinformation to the world as if the corridor is open. During the panel discussion, the President of Azerbaijan again announced the opening of the Lachin Corridor. That is an evident mockery of the 120,000 people of the Republic of Artsakh, who have been under siege for two months, and of those international actors who regularly appeal to Azerbaijan to lift the blockade with calls, demands, statements, and resolutions.
– In his interview with Azerbaijani media, the President of Azerbaijan stated that the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh should be removed from the document of the Peace Treaty, and the Azerbaijan-Artsakh bilateral dialogue format should be introduced instead. What do you think about this?
– According to open sources, the Peace Treaty discussions are ongoing, but their content still needs to be clarified. The Republic of Artsakh can negotiate with Azerbaijan only in the approved format of international mediation mechanisms. Despite freezing the co-chairmanship format of the OSCE Minsk Group, it remains the only supported negotiation format for the settlement of the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict. Without international mediation mechanisms, the dangers arising from an exclusively bilateral form should also be assessed by global players, first of all, by the states and power centers representing the Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group. The blockade of Artsakh is an additional case for raising international responsibility. Otherwise, Azerbaijan will continue to lower the bar; instead of negotiating with the authorities democratically elected by the Artsakh people, it will advance the vague format of “dialogue with the representatives of the ethnic community of Karabakh.” As Azerbaijan already agreed with Artsakh in 2020. Suppose the post-war economic agreements are presented as a certain level of integration. In that case, Azerbaijan will invest all the opportunities to take the problem to Nagorno Karabakh as a so-called “ethnic community” format. Therefore, pushing the issue in this direction will mean subjecting Artsakh to ethnic cleansing and thus finally closing the subject of Artsakh.
– Azerbaijan’s illegal rhetoric of interfering in Artsakh’s internal affairs continued in Munich; in particular, a public demand was made again for Ruben Vardanyan to leave Artsakh.
-Azerbaijan continues its illegal political ambitions toward Artsakh. The Spokesperson of the President of the Republic of Artsakh has already responded to the attempts to interfere in the internal affairs of the Republic of Artsakh, particularly the topic related to Ruben Vardanyan’s move to Artsakh and tenure. At the same time, however, Aliyev needs to manage to avoid the reality of how it happens that people in Nagorno Karabakh, which, according to their own words, do not exist, occupy public positions.
Interview by Nelly GRIGORYAN
