Armen Sarkissian: Armenia's Sole Intention Has Been to Be Patient and Not Complicate the Peace Process

Due to the current war, Armenia may have no alternative but to not only recognize, but openly support Artsakh. This was stated by the President of Armenia, Armen Sarkissian, in an interview with the Chinese agency Caixin Media.

Specifically, the journalist asked: "There are opinions that Armenia should unite with the Republic of Artsakh. Some are calling for de jure recognition of that state. And the only option for the Azerbaijani side is to liberate the territories. Will you accept that? What will your approach to Nagorno-Karabakh be after this conflict?"

In response, the President of Armenia said, "You asked two questions: regarding Armenia recognizing Nagorno-Karabakh as an independent state or perhaps signing some type of agreement. Baku's approach categorically rejects any negotiations and insists that there is only one solution, which is the expulsion of every Armenian from the area where they have lived for years. In the case of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh, our approach has been to be as patient as possible. We could have recognized Nagorno-Karabakh 30 or 26 years ago, but since we had a negotiation table and are discussing a final solution, we decided not to complicate the situation with our recognition and to wait until we find a final solution between Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. By not taking that step, Armenia's sole intention has been to be patient and not complicate the peace process.

Of course, due to the current war and statements from the Azerbaijani side, Armenia may have no alternative but to not only recognize but also openly support. And we support Nagorno-Karabakh because it is a historic Armenian territory that was given to Azerbaijan by Soviet authorities. Stalin was known for creating problems between all nations, he created issues between the Russians and Georgians, Ukrainians and Russians, and among the Central Asian republics, and so on. This is one of them.

In order to have the opportunity for peaceful negotiations, Armenia has shown a very conservative and patient position. This is the Armenian version of resolving problems because we believe in peace negotiations. What the Azerbaijani side says is called ethnic cleansing in modern terms—you are simply expelling everyone and conquering their land. If they start such a policy, then what will the boundary be? In that case, we will have a world where there are only two or three states. If one is strong, does that mean they can conquer everyone? Where is our humanity? Where is the international community? Where is the UN? Where is everyone else? From this perspective, what Baku says is completely unacceptable to us. I emphasize this not only because historically, Armenians have always lived in Nagorno-Karabakh or the Republic of Artsakh, but also because it is very important that Turkey is involved in today’s war. This fact reminds all Armenians—whether in Artsakh, Armenia, Russia, California, or Middle Eastern countries—of the Armenian Genocide that took place in 1915. Today we see that, unfortunately, Turkey has decided to finish the job that was left undone in 1915 when they murdered 1.5 million Armenians and expelled many from their historical homeland.