Pashinyan is Lying: Levon Zurabyan on the Prime Minister's Statements Regarding Artsakh

Levon Zurabyan, the Deputy Chairman of the Armenian National Congress (ANC), writes on his Facebook page: "FOR THE PASHINYAN LIE
On May 22, during a press conference, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan responded to a journalist's question about whether Armenia's recognition of Azerbaijan's territorial integrity, encompassing 86,600 square kilometers, includes Artsakh, effectively questioning if this means Artsakh is recognized as part of Azerbaijan. He stated, 'Whatever the current government of Armenia says, all previous governments have recognized Azerbaijan's territorial integrity.' Pashinyan is lying.

The only leader of Armenia who officially agreed to a resolution of the conflict that recognizes Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan was the second president, Robert Kocharyan, who unreservedly accepted the 'Common State' program in 1998.

However, for the sake of truth, it must be noted that the program agreed upon by Robert Kocharyan is even incomparable to the disastrous plan that Nikol Pashinyan has agreed to for Artsakh. The essence is that the 'Common State' program was based on defining Artsakh's status as 'de jure part of Azerbaijan, de facto independent.' According to that program, Artsakh would have its own parliament, which would be empowered to prohibit the enforcement of Azerbaijani laws in the territory of Artsakh, and Azerbaijani security forces would not have the right to enter the territory of Artsakh without its consent. Artsakh would have its own army, etc.

In contrast, Pashinyan has agreed to the integration of Artsakh into Azerbaijan's unitary state as the Azerbaijani regions of Khankendi and Agdere, with all its leadership, including the prosecutor's office and police, appointed from Baku. The anticipated outcome of such a course is already known: the ethnic cleansing of the Armenian population of Artsakh, if not massacres and expulsion.

Pashinyan is horrified by the backlash his disgraceful decision will provoke when all these details become publicly known. Therefore, he is trying to lay the responsibility for his decision on the previous leaders of Armenia with yet another Nikolian 'trick,' seeking to convince our society that the recognition of Azerbaijan's territorial integrity was made by previous leaders before him.

The liar conveniently 'forgets' to inform our society of one 'small detail.' The Alma-Ata Declaration was signed and ratified by Armenia with 10 reservations, which clearly state that the recognition of Azerbaijan's territorial integrity by Armenia does not extend to Nagorno-Karabakh within the borders of the Soviet Autonomous Region. So evaluate the liar!"