International Community Perceives Artsakh as Part of Azerbaijan, Says Pashinyan

The international community perceives Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan. This statement was made today by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan during a press conference, commenting on international pressures regarding the lowering of Armenia's benchmarks on the status of Artsakh.

“Regarding the issue of the status, when there were also public clarifications from Russia, and we stated that this was largely acceptable to us, I believe the picture has been completed. The fact is that today and yesterday the entire international community has perceived Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan. Perhaps we have not been pragmatic enough, and we mistakenly thought that the four resolutions of the UN Security Council were merely texts written on paper that we could ignore,” said Pashinyan.

The Prime Minister reminded that the Declaration of Independence of Armenia references the decision of the USSR and the joint decision of the Supreme Council for the re-unification of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO). One year later, a referendum on independence was held in Artsakh, after which negotiations continued in that direction until 2007, when Armenia accepted the Madrid Principles, stating that the status of Artsakh should be clarified through a referendum to be held later. According to Pashinyan, the current perception of the international community is a consequence of all this.

“We are not isolated from the world; we live in this context, and this context must be taken into account. In this regard, our position today is this, and concerning the Lachin Corridor, I have said, and I want to repeat today, that our task is to support the people of Artsakh, the Armenian community in Artsakh, to continue living in Artsakh, to continue being Armenian, to consider themselves Karabakhis, and to have the opportunity to live in a secure environment,” said Pashinyan.

He also emphasized that it is not Armenia that should decide the issue of Artsakh, but the people of Artsakh should be in communication with the authorities of Azerbaijan.