If Pashinyan Signs What He Has Verbally Stated, It Will Be a National Tragedy: Oskanian

Former Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian believes that the only way out of humiliation and to drastically change the situation is to force the current authorities to resign through popular pressure. Oskanian made a statement where he remarked, "Since the change of power in 2018, when it became apparent that a wrong choice had been made, the Armenian people have found themselves in a cycle of continuous humiliations. It seemed that the heavy defeat in the 44-day war was the peak of that humiliation, but it turned out that was not the case when Nikol Pashinyan verbally surrendered Artsakh to Azerbaijan, and soon, undeniably, will do so in writing. Yesterday, another drop of humiliation was added when the United States welcomed Ilham Aliyev's 'goodwill' to pardon the authorities of Artsakh.

I want us all to take a moment to understand what this means. It means that the most corrupt and authoritarian leader in the world promises to grant forgiveness to the selected leaders of a people who have lived on their historical land for generations (for millennia), a people that has faced the most severe violence for decades, attempting to sever them from their own historical land that has never been part of independent Azerbaijan. And the US welcomes this step? We should not blame the United States; there is one culprit here: the current authorities of Armenia. The only way out of this humiliation and to drastically change the situation is by forcing these authorities to resign through popular pressure.

I believe that all Armenians today have no other pressing issue than to raise their voices against the historical injustices committed by the authorities of Armenia and to demand a refusal to the process of surrendering Artsakh. There are more than 90 countries that are members of the UN, which have joined that organization under certain boundaries. Currently, there are over 50 territorial disputes in the world, which means that there are at least two dozen pairs of countries that have unresolved territorial issues. With a few exceptions, all these pairs of countries have diplomatic relations, and for the most part, normal friendly ties. Right now, Nikol Pashinyan is in Chișinău. I don’t know if he will sign a document or not, but for everyone, the outcome of those negotiations is predetermined.

I believe that Armenia has the opportunity today to avoid signing any document with Azerbaijan. There are valid reasons for this that are very understandable and clear to everyone. If Nikol Pashinyan still wants to sign some document, it should be signed with reservations regarding the future status of Nagorno-Karabakh. If Pashinyan signs what he has verbally stated, it will be an irrevocable national tragedy for the Armenian people."