“I only mentioned Kyarki; I did not talk about returning it,” Nikol Pashinyan told journalists yesterday, continuing: “I said that 29,743 square kilometers is the internationally recognized territory of the Republic of Armenia. The three Azerbaijani enclaves are not included in this calculation, while our exclave of Artsvashen is. If we refuse to confront this reality, it means we are saying that the internationally recognized territory of the Republic of Armenia is not 29,743 square kilometers but, for example, 29,755 square kilometers. This means declaring an indirect war on Azerbaijan.”
So, apparently, Azerbaijan has declared war on Armenia, albeit indirectly — at least according to Nikol Pashinyan. Because, as far as it appears, Azerbaijan has to this day not recognized the territorial integrity of Armenia down to a single square meter, kilometer or centimeter. In other words, to use Pashinyan’s own formulation, “Azerbaijan does not confront this reality.” Therefore, as long as Azerbaijan has officially said nothing about Artsvashen and has in no way acknowledged that it has occupied territory in the Jermuk area, it remains in a state of having “declared an indirect war” on Armenia.
This also means that, in trying to justify himself, Nikol Pashinyan is essentially contradicting himself when he insists that an irreversible peace has been established. How can peace and an “indirect war” coexist?
Although it is possible that this is simply a new form of peace, the intellectual property rights to which belong to Nikol Pashinyan. Though one may reasonably wonder who in the world, apart from his subordinates and admirers, recognizes Pashinyan’s claim to such intellectual property.
Read also
At the very least, securing recognition of that intellectual property would be an achievement for him, even if only a personal one. Because as far as securing recognition of Armenia’s rights is concerned, under the continuation of Nikol Pashinyan’s policies, the prospects of achieving any success are zero.
Hakob BADALYAN
