Any solution to the Artsakh issue that would result in the exodus of Armenians from Artsakh cannot be acceptable for Armenia, Member of Parliament from the ruling Civil Contract bloc Eduard Aghajanyan told reporters.
“Any solution that would lead to exodus of Armenians from Artsakh cannot be acceptable for the Republic of Armenia” – MP
STEPANAKERT, APRIL 15, ARTSAKHPRESS-ARMENPRESS: Speaking about the April 14 statement by the Parliament of Artsakh that harshly criticized the Government of Armenia and demanded Yerevan to “renounce their current catastrophic position”, Aghajanyan said that there are no secret processes taking place behind the back of the Armenians of Artsakh. “There is no process behind the back of the Armenians of Artsakh, and can’t be. And naturally the most important beneficiary of this process is the people of Artsakh itself,” Aghajanyan said.
Regarding the Artsakh parliament’s statement, Aghajanyan said that perhaps their colleagues in Artsakh misunderstood the Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s speech.
“The Artsakh conflict was never a territorial dispute for Armenia, it has been an issue of exercising the right of the Armenians of Artsakh to live safely in their homeland. Therefore, for us, basically the status has always been a measure to exercise these rights. Armenia’s position on this issue has always been unchanged,” the MP said.
Speaking about the question of lowering the bar in the issue of the NK status – something the Armenian PM said the international community is asking Armenia to do – Aghajanyan said: “This is first of all about the bar as a result of which the kind of consolidation of the international community will be ensured around Armenia that would result in at least a pro-Armenian solution becoming more likely. We have 30 years of negotiating experience during which we’ve had a certain bar, and also because of this during these 30 years Armenia was essentially in a diplomatic isolation, the consequences of which I believe we are all seeing, and we also saw during and after the 44-day war. I think it is time to draw conclusions from our mistakes and move forward realistic reasons.”
Again speaking about the Artsakh parliamentarians’ statements, Aghajanyan reiterated that PM Pashinyan’s speech did not include anything about Artsakh being or not being part of Azerbaijan.
Speaking about the question regarding a possible status of Artsakh, Aghajanyan said: “I think any solution that would result in the people of Artsakh agreeing to continue living in Artsakh will be acceptable for everyone, first of all for the Artsakhi people themselves. The condition is that if it is acceptable for the people of Artsakh, then I assume that it is acceptable for Armenia and its citizens as well. It is about the kind of conditions that would result in ensuring all rights of the Armenians of Artsakh, conditions where the Artsakh people would not want to leave Artsakh. Otherwise the solution that would be proposed naturally would not be compatible with the interests of Armenia, neither the people of Artsakh. Any solution that would lead to the exodus of Armenians from Artsakh cannot be acceptable for the Republic of Armenia.”
Aghajanyan noted that it is due to realistic motives and reasons that the Armenian government is attaching importance to being on the same level, same line with the international community in this issue. He said this is an extremely important condition for the issue to be solved maximally favorably.
