We Inherited the Resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh Issue in a Stalemate, Pre-War and Post-War Situation - Pashinyan

Azerbaijan has made it very clear and publicly emphasized that it is not ready to accept any status for Nagorno-Karabakh that would be the same or somewhat higher than the status of an autonomous region, stated Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan while addressing the National Assembly regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh issue.

Pashinyan recalled that on the first day of the war, he asked parliamentary deputies what they should have done to avoid such a situation. “We inherited the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue in a stalemate, pre-war and post-war situation. What grounds do I have to make such a claim? The statements made by Serzh Sargsyan from this podium on April 17, 2018, attest to this. On that day, Serzh Sargsyan stated that the negotiation process does not inspire optimism. More specifically, it is simply stagnant because the expectations of the Azerbaijani leadership from the results are unrealistic and unacceptable to us.

On that same day, in response to a question from Samvel Nikoyan, Sargsyan declared: “First, I must say that the April war was both a surprise and not a surprise in the sense that very often people are almost certain about something, but they internally harbor the hope that the opponent or partner will not take steps that are harmful to both sides. In this regard, we must take lesson that the key word is ‘anymore’. In this sense, we must consider the first lesson that for a very long time we should never hope that the leadership of Azerbaijan will abandon its aggressive approaches and its desire to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh issue by force,” Pashinyan quoted Sargsyan, emphasizing that we were in a situation where the Republic of Armenia reached its red lines in the negotiation process and even crossed them.

The crossing of the red lines in the negotiation process is also evidenced by Serzh Sargsyan's interview with a Russian news agency on November 17, 2016, during which Sargsyan said, “We were several times close to signing the document where all these principles were clearly reflected. This means that the Armenian side was to leave the territories currently occupied as security zones. The areas that the Azerbaijanis refer to as occupied, naming the Azerbaijani 7 regions could be returned. We are leaving the territories and stepping back—that is the principle of territorial integrity. But in the first point, it was clearly stated that the final legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh would be determined through the free expression of the will of the people of Artsakh. Then it was written who would participate, what the agenda would be, and so on. The journalist asks, 'So, a referendum?', and Serzh Sargsyan replies, 'Yes, a referendum.’ That was the embodiment of the principle of self-determination, but each time the Azerbaijani side put forward new demands. This means let’s record where we have reached in the negotiation process. We have reached a point where the Armenian side says, 'I am returning the 7 regions,' while Azerbaijan says, 'No, you must give more,'” Pashinyan recounted while referring to Sargsyan’s other interview on June 16, 2017, with the “Armenia” TV channel, where he noted that the April war showed that Azerbaijan is refusing the Madrid principles for solving the issue, and that was clear to everyone. Azerbaijan's position is also clear—it claims that the Nagorno-Karabakh issue is an internal affair of Azerbaijan, in other words, that Nagorno-Karabakh is an integral part of Azerbaijan and must remain so,” Pashinyan emphasized, pointing out that those who previously led Armenia made statements that should be clearly explained.