I Was Ready to Help Him: Oskanian Talks About Writing Down Suggestions for Pashinyan

In 2018, there was a significant opportunity to resolve the Karabakh issue peacefully under the leadership of Nikol Pashinyan and with his high legitimacy. This was stated by former Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian on his Facebook page. Yesterday, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan mentioned in the National Assembly that Oskanian should reveal what advice he would have given him in 2018-19.

“I would have said, ‘Mr. Prime Minister, you have great legitimacy; you were elected with 80 percent of the vote. There is such a document on the table. Do not disregard it. Don’t start from your zero point. It carries risks. I know what Azerbaijan's red line is; I know what is acceptable for Azerbaijan. I would have advised him to go with a third option: to agree with Azerbaijan to return five territories upon signing a document and negotiate with Azerbaijan for the return of Kelbajar and the non-corridor part of Lachin within three to five years. But before that, Azerbaijan must prove that it is capable of peacefully coexisting with its neighbor, Armenia. All other guarantees that were in that document—Security Council, presence of peacekeeping forces, interim status—all of them should come into force,” Oskanian says.

He is convinced that if, during those days in 2018, Nikol Pashinyan had taken that path, today there would be an entire Nakhchivan enclave, including Shushi and Hadrut, with a 20 km corridor—without casualties—de facto independent Armenian Artsakh.

“With that great legitimacy, Nikol Pashinyan could have looked our people in the eye and said we are giving up these territories, but we are bringing real peace,” Oskanian states. He emphasizes that this would have been his advice to Pashinyan. The former minister also believes that if Pashinyan had chosen the path he described, all three former presidents would have stood by his side.

Oskanian also revealed that he met with Nikol Pashinyan after the 44-day war and made several suggestions in light of the new situation. “I haven't spoken about this before; this is my first time discussing it. In the post-war situation, I presented several proposals, wrote them down on paper, and gave them to Pashinyan. He read them, thanked me, and we talked. Why am I mentioning this now? To assure everyone that I have never had any intention of politicizing the matter,” Oskanian states.

According to him, the current discussions suggesting there is no alternative to what Pashinyan wants to do are a myth. He assures that it is possible to maintain a complete and Armenian Artsakh without war. “I am ready to meet on this issue if Pashinyan wants to talk about it,” Oskanian adds.

It is noteworthy that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had earlier criticized Oskanian, accusing him of creating confusion in the negotiations surrounding the Madrid Principles.