Oscanyan: In Ankara, Pashinyan Represented Not the Armenian People, But Himself

“Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's participation in Erdogan's inauguration ceremony has raised astonishment and anger among wide circles in Armenia and the Diaspora. To be honest, I was neither surprised nor outraged by this visit, because in Ankara, Pashinyan was representing not the Armenian people, but himself. He did not even represent his entire party or his whole government, because no one can convince me that there are no people there who would oppose his participation,” former Minister of Foreign Affairs Vardan Oskanyan wrote on his Facebook page.

He noted that he would present the issue solely from a political and diplomatic perspective, setting aside the emotional and moral aspects regarding the values trampled upon by the Prime Minister to reach Ankara; the list is very long.

“With this visit, Pashinyan once again demonstrated that he is very far from diplomacy. I have often said it and will not hesitate to repeat: if he had at least minimal diplomatic skills, we would have avoided war and today have Nagorno-Karabakh - the entire territory of the former NKAO, with a 20 km Lachin corridor recognized by Azerbaijan, Turkey, and the international community, guaranteed by the UN Security Council with a provisional status, and open borders with Azerbaijan and Turkey. Pashinyan does not understand that by providing aid in Turkey after the earthquake and participating in Erdogan’s inauguration ceremony, he cannot charm Turkey regarding the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations. Turkey will take its steps when it deems appropriate. Moreover, the key to opening the Armenian-Turkish border and establishing diplomatic relations is in Baku. Now, as Nagorno-Karabakh is surrendered to Baku, and soon Azerbaijan's other conditions will be fulfilled, Turkey will open the border regardless of whether this visit took place or not,” Oskanyan wrote.

It is noteworthy that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan participated in the inauguration ceremony of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey on June 3.