On March 16 and the following period, the President of Azerbaijan sent new threats to the Armenian side, reaffirming the demand for a “peace treaty” and warned that Armenia would bear responsibility for not opening the “Zangezur Corridor.” Garnik Davtyan, an expert on Azerbaijani issues, is the interlocutor of “Aravot.”
– Mr. Davtyan, in your opinion, what kind of sequence of actions led to Ilham Aliyev setting a condition today that he will sign a “peace treaty” with Armenia if Karabakh is recognized as part of Azerbaijan?
– Before this announcement, several observations should be made for 2018-2020, the period, and the realities after that. In 2018-2020, everything was done so that Artsakh lost its subjectivity, and the possible minimal and favorable conditions achieved in the previous negotiations, which were already recorded, regarding the independence of Artsakh and the rights to self-determination of Artsakh were canceled. Nikol Pashinyan once declared that “Artsakh is Armenia, and that’s it”; then, he said that he was not the prime minister elected by the people of Artsakh. In addition, he also spoke about starting “from his own zero point,” which proves that the non-Armenian government of Armenia led by Pashinyan has done everything possible to cancel the provisions previously reached in the negotiations.
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Basically, Nikol Pashinyan’s starting from “zero point” led to war, loss of subjectivity of Artsakh, territorial losses, and occupation. Before the 2021 elections, Nikol Pashinyan said they would fight for the de-occupation of Hadrut and Shushi, the right to self-determination of Artsakh, and would support the will of the people of Artsakh to determine their future. In other words, he spoke from a pro-Armenian position at the level of statements.
However, after 2021, the “third” Nikol Pashinyan first renounced Artsakh, calling many territories non-Armenian, with statements made in the National Assembly and government sessions, which was supported by some members of the CC, saying that “we have land to give” to Azerbaijan. That gave Azerbaijan minimal legitimacy to talk later (already now) that Armenia should accept its conditions. From Azerbaijan’s point of view, the Armenians of Artsakh is a minority that should establish contact with it and not Armenia. Nikol Pashinyan lied to the citizens who voted for him during the 2021 elections and then to all of us.
As a result, we had the fact that Ilham Aliyev puts before the international community not only the statements and actions of Nikol Pashinyan but also the statements of his teammates, which allows Azerbaijan to say that Armenia has accepted Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan and Artsakh should obey the domestic legislation of Azerbaijan. The international community perceives Azerbaijan because Armenia gave up Artsakh and left it to Baku to dictate its terms to Artsakh. Therefore, Artsakh is on the verge of depopulation today. The rest of the statements are tendencies to justify the “third” Nikol Pashinyan.
– Aliyev also emphasized his conditions in the context that they are for Armenia to live peacefully in the territory of 29 thousand square kilometers.
– This is just a fact about military aggression, one of the episodes of starting a war. Emphasizing 29,000 km2, Aliyev already repeats “4th” Nikol Pashinyan, who said he recognizes Armenia as 29,000 km2. Meanwhile, the exact number is 29,743 km2. Firstly, I believe, without telling the total number, Nikol Pashinyan aims to give Azerbaijan the so-called “enclaves,” illegally annexed from Armenia to Azerbaijan. Secondly, it seeks to provide a road through Syunik to Azerbaijan. As a result, we have its “rounded” number. The occupation of Armenian territories due to Azerbaijan’s aggression is a prelude to war. In addition, they aim to deprive Armenia of its subjectivity and role in international processes.
Luiza SUKIASYAN
“Aravot” daily, 25.03.2023
