Artsakh Has Never Been part of Azerbaijan Either Legally or Factually: RPP on Pashinyan's Statement

The acceptance of Azerbaijan's territorial integrity cannot contradict the exercise of the right to self-determination of the people of Artsakh. This is stated in the announcement of the Executive Body of the Republican Party of Armenia.

“The Executive Body of the Republican Party of Armenia reacts to the approaches expressed by Nikol Pashinyan today in the National Assembly, namely: ‘The Republic of Armenia fully recognizes the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and expects that Azerbaijan will do the same, recognizing the entire territory of the Armenian SSR as the Republic of Armenia’ and ‘the maps established by the USSR of the Armenian and Azerbaijani SSRs will be attached to the agreement as the basis for the territorial integrity of the two countries’.”

The statement includes:

1. The Republic of Armenia has never had territorial claims against the Republic of Azerbaijan and has never questioned its territorial integrity.
2. According to the legislation of the USSR in force at that time, two states were created on the territory of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic: the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Artsakh.
3. According to the constitutional act of the Republic of Azerbaijan on ‘State Independence,’ the Republic of Azerbaijan is not the successor of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic.
4. The Republic of Artsakh has never been part of the Republic of Azerbaijan either legally or factually.
5. By the Alma-Ata Declaration of December 21, 1991, the Republic of Armenia joined the Agreement on the establishment of the CIS of December 8, 1991, which contains provisions regarding the rights of self-determination of peoples. This was ratified by the Supreme Council of the Republic of Armenia with reservations related to the right of self-determination and cannot serve as a basis for recognizing the borders of the Republic of Azerbaijan within the borders of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic.
6. The territorial integrity is one of the fundamental principles repeatedly recorded by the co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group in the proposed resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, along with the right to self-determination of peoples and the non-use of force or threat of force; however, during this time, the peacekeeping process suggested by the international community has been infringed upon by:
• the use of force against the people of Artsakh during the 44-day war.
• the violation of the territorial integrity of the Republic of Artsakh.
• the disregard for the right of self-determination of the people of Artsakh in the current negotiation process.
7. In the negotiation process between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the separation of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations from the Nagorno-Karabakh issue due to Azerbaijani coercion, leaving the Republic of Artsakh alone, and refusing the obligation of being its security guarantor is unacceptable and tantamount to betrayal, as we have repeatedly warned.

Therefore, the acceptance of the territorial integrity of the Republic of Azerbaijan cannot contradict the imperative to guarantee and realize the right of self-determination of the people of Artsakh expressed in the documented content of the ongoing negotiations.