VIDEO: Nikol Pashinyan Responds to Former President Robert Kocharian and His Accusers

Former President of Armenia Robert Kocharian stated in an interview with the "5th Channel" television yesterday that the Artsakh war could have been avoided if a number of mistakes had not been made. He noted that the legal basis for the existence of the Republic of Artsakh is the right to self-determination, but the Armenian side changed this with its statements, bringing the resolution of the issue into the realm of territorial integrity. According to Kocharian, the phrase "Artsakh is Armenia, and that’s it" signifies a shift of the issue into the domain of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations.

Today, in his televised address, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan responded to the recent criticisms directed at him, stating that ever since he took responsibility for the failures in the Artsakh war, those who do not hesitate are quick to push the responsibility for all the mistakes of the last 25-30 years onto him.

"It has come to the point where the person who has excluded Nagorno-Karabakh from the negotiation format and moved it to the Armenia-Azerbaijan platform accuses us of the fact that the Nagorno-Karabakh issue has taken on a territorial context," Pashinyan said, emphasizing that it took on that context when Armenia began negotiating on behalf of Karabakh.

Pashinyan also referred to Kocharian’s comment in yesterday’s interview regarding the perception of Azerbaijan’s aggression by the international community as a restoration of Azerbaijan's territorial integrity. "And this accusation is made by a person who was accused by the international community of the occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh territories, while he explained to the Armenian public that when you enter a bathroom on an airplane and close the door, it reads 'occupied.' Therefore, there is nothing terrifying about the term occupied," Pashinyan noted.

The Prime Minister also recalled that the issue of the status of Nagorno-Karabakh was removed from negotiations in 2016 at the proposal of the Russian Federation. "We built bad relations with our allied partner, you built good ones. So how did it happen that it was with the proposal of our strategic ally that the issue of Artsakh's status, in essence, was removed from the agenda? You were a good diplomat; how could it be that Azerbaijan was not punished in connection with the April war because you went and wisely agreed to what was being proposed?" he said.

According to Pashinyan, the Armenian authorities legitimized Azerbaijan's right to wage war in 2016. He emphasized that his government did not fail diplomacy; instead, it sought to break free from the burden of 20-25 years of failed diplomacy.

The April 2016 war ceased as a result of promises to return territories. In his video address today, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated, "But why couldn’t we achieve the same? Because we were told that Armenia had verbally promised several times to return the territories and did not return them, now the conversation can only be about a written document. It was only by signing a document like that of November 9 that it would have been possible to stop the war," Pashinyan explained.

He reiterated that he made this proposal from the podium of the National Assembly on the very first day of the war, but no one made a statement agreeing to it. Meanwhile, it is now becoming clear that everyone is in favor of giving away lands under the "5+2" formula.

"Everyone thinks that Azerbaijan will accept the '5+2' as a sort of liquid gold. That still had to be discussed, agreed upon, and signed. And when Armenia agreed, Azerbaijan would want more—Shushi, Lachin, and so on. And I am simply amazed by some people who consider themselves diplomats but do not understand or do not want to understand these simple facts," Pashinyan said.

Pashinyan also addressed the issue of Turkey’s involvement in the Artsakh war and expressed the belief that Turkey entered the Nagorno-Karabakh issue 10 years ago due to the 'football diplomacy' pursued by Serzh Sargsyan. "When, as a result of the failures of Armenian diplomacy, it was declared that it would not establish diplomatic relations with Armenia as long as Azerbaijani territories are occupied," said the Prime Minister.