“We saw what happened in Artsakh when people came to power a month ago who sought to come to power sooner. And we saw how the forces that came to power handed over Artsakh in a beautiful way,” MP Gagik Melkonyan of the Civil Contract faction of the National Assembly told reporters in Yerablur (bypassing the fact that the Armenian government had left Artsakh alone. – Ed.).
“In other words, the capitulation, which they always talked about, took place with their hands; they signed this capitulation. Now, the RA government accepts our brothers and sisters from Artsakh here, and accommodations have already been prepared for all of them. They will be given refugee status, they will remain with that status, and there is also a possibility that houses will be built for them in the villages where the population is small,” said Melkonyan.
Gagik Melkonyan answered whether the RA authorities are not to blame for what happened in Artsakh. “If we take it, every Armenian is guilty. The Republic of Armenia was the guarantor of the security of the Republic of Artsakh until the 2020 war. After the war, under the agreement of November 9, the guarantor was changed to the Russian Federation with its peacekeeping troops. They had an opportunity there; the Lachin Corridor, 5 km wide, had to be guarded by the Russian peacekeepers. But we saw that it was not preserved.
Before that, 60 of our boys were captured in Khtsaberd in front of the same Russians. After Khtsaberd, Parukh surrendered, and nothing. Then the corridor was closed, 5 km became a road, then a checkpoint was placed on the road.” Gagik Melkonyan replied to the observation that the Russian peacekeepers entered Artsakh also with the signature of Nikol Pashinyan. Nikol Pashinyan is responsible on behalf of the Armenian side.
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“Nikol Pashinyan signed a ceasefire agreement. The ceasefire took place after November 9, when it was planned that Armenia would withdraw its troops, we did. Whatever points are there, Armenia has fulfilled them. That ceasefire was not implemented by the Azerbaijanis, Russia did not implement it, it was implemented by Armenia.”
To the observation that the international community quotes Nikol Pashinyan’s statement about recognizing Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan, Gagik Melkonyan replied: “You quote Russia’s accusations. The President of Russia said in December 2020 that Nagorno-Karabakh is an inviolable part of Azerbaijan. Once again, in an interview, he repeated that Karabakh was part of Azerbaijan. We have had three presidents; which president said Artsakh is not part of Azerbaijan?
During all international meetings, they silently signed and acknowledged that Artsakh is a part of Azerbaijan; they did not express themselves or tell the people. However, in their agreements, they recognize Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan. They didn’t say it publicly because they didn’t have the courage and were afraid of the people, they didn’t say it. Pashinyan said this is it; Karabakh is a part of Azerbaijan; Putin said before that.”
On the part of “Aravot,” let us remember that no leader of Armenia, until Nikol Pashinyan, has yet announced that recognizing the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, Artsakh is included in that territory.
Gagik Melkonyan mentioned that Azerbaijanis make false statements they want a civil war in Armenia. According to him, Nikol Pashinyan’s statement about recognizing Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan could not lead to this situation. “Until Nikol Pashinyan, the President of the Russian Federation, who is the guarantor of Artsakh’s security since 2020, has already made that statement,” he said. Melkonyan answered that the government of Armenia throws the responsibility on a third country: “It does not drop; the third country took the responsibility upon itself, according to the ceasefire agreement of November 9, 2020. Our dear Putin, our dear Vladimir Vladimirovich, took that responsibility himself. If you remember, at that time, he said: I wrote this contract on November 9. Remember, by his writing, he has already taken responsibility for himself. We are a state, but after the defeat, we did not become strong enough to be able to solve these issues with our army. Only three years have passed since the war. When the Azerbaijanis were defeated in 1994, they sat quietly for 26 years, started to arm themselves, got friendly countries and a state like Turkey stood behind them; who stood behind us? Our army is now being rebuilt and re-armed, and we must do everything to ensure that our independence is not undermined and to preserve the security of Armenia.”
Rosa HOVHANNISYAN
