The Mechanism of Artsakh's "Surrender" Has Been in Place Since 1998, MP Says

Former Armenian National Assembly and Artsakh National Assembly MP Vahram Atanesyan wrote on his Facebook page: "It is fundamentally wrong to say that there has ever been a non-mitizikan (non-military) government in Armenia. The facts are merciless. Less than a year after taking office, Robert Kocharyan and his team, including in Stepanakert, agreed to adopt the 'common state' option for the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement as a basis for negotiations, whereby all territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh, except for the Lachin corridor, were to be returned to Azerbaijan, while Nagorno-Karabakh would be recognized as a 'state formation of republican type' within Azerbaijan's internationally recognized borders, effectively an autonomous republic.

Looking back, I am increasingly convinced that a non-mitizikan state policy would have been more effective than the diplomatic 'half-pregnancy' that generally boiled down to 'trade': Armenia would return all territories outside Nagorno-Karabakh if Azerbaijan recognized... Initially, they said, 'if it recognizes the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh,' then they said, 'if it recognizes conducting a referendum on the status issue,' and finally, they said, 'if it recognizes its right to self-determination.' Azerbaijan recognized nothing except for war. What Armenia has been avoiding for two decades, like the devil avoids incense. Had we had a stable, unequivocal, non-mitizikan foreign policy, the war would have occurred, perhaps, in 2010-11 and would definitely have had a different outcome than it had in 2020. Therefore, we cannot attribute pleasant attributions to people. The 'surrender mechanism' has been operational since the 1998 regime change.

Note: It must also be clearly emphasized that this negotiation buffoonery was absolutely unconstitutional in Armenia’s case, because according to the constitution, 'Artsakh is Armenia, and that's it,'" wrote the former MP of the Artsakh National Assembly.