At a conference in Moscow they wondered why Pashinyan’s Armenia needs Nagorno-Karabakh
The Armenian authorities present Russia as an eternal enemy, which, together with Turkey and Azerbaijan, is allegedly preparing to divide the country.
Professor of the Department of Political Science at MGIMO Andranik Migranyan stated this at a conference in Moscow, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“I don’t really understand the statements of Armenian officials. Reading the Armenian Internet, I constantly come across statements by a whole host of so-called political scientists and experts who say that they are representatives of the Armenian authorities, and constantly promote the idea that everything that has happened since 2020 is the result of a Russian-Turkish-Azerbaijani conspiracy to dismember Armenia. I want to understand whether this is the official position of the authorities, and what kind of rebuff such a position receives. If this is the official position, then what is Armenia doing in various structures in which, given this position, its membership is inappropriate.
A paradigmatic change in the vector of Armenian politics is taking place. It was believed that 200 years were good while we were with Russia. And now they say that everything was bad for 200 years. But today, finally, Europe and America will come and change everything. You can only rely on them. Only they can guarantee the security of Armenia. Are the consequences of such changes calculated?” Migranyan said.
He recalled that a document has been prepared in Washington according to which Yerevan transfers Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijan.
“I believe that the introduction of Russian peacekeepers was a knife in the back of Pashinyan and his team. Because they have been saying for 20 years that Karabakh is a burden and needs to be thrown off. And everything worked out well, but suddenly the Russian peacekeepers suspended this process. Did the Armenian government tell the society: we are surrendering Karabakh, this is not our land, and we have wasted so much effort and human lives in vain? When the war was going on, the Armenian Prime Minister himself said that he could not stop the hostilities. It was necessary to kill more people, to deepen the fear of the Armenian society, so that, in captivity of this fear, it could accept any monstrous actions of the authorities. If Armenia refuses Karabakh and is ready to surrender it according to the Washington document, Russia cannot raise this issue alone. Although, I think, if Karabakh and Armenia come to an agreement, then maybe it will be possible without Armenia. Why does Karabakh need such an Armenia,” Migranyan noted.
The audience reacted to his last words with applause.
Former Minister of Defense of the Republic of Armenia Vazgen Manukyan confirmed that such sentiments really exist in Armenia.
“It’s true that they talk about the fact that Russia has united with Turkey and Azerbaijan against Armenia, that Artsakh is an addendum and prevents us from living. Power provokes these things. This is the policy of today's Armenia. On the other hand, Russia is constantly fanning this fire. With their words, deeds or weeks - it seems to push them all the time, and therefore it is very easy for them to convince ordinary people that they are right. Sometimes it seems that Russia wants such a mood to be created in Armenia,” Manukyan said.
He was joined by economist Ashot Tavadyan.
“It is perceived as such. Russia says: Azerbaijan and Turkey are partners, and Armenia, of course, is an ally. But they are first-class partners, and we are a third-class ally, and we are treated accordingly. This position will not lead to anything good. Unfortunately, the cooperation of our economies occurs in words, but not in deeds. There is no corresponding program. Our products are constantly becoming more expensive and losing out to competition. The problem of migration from Artsakh is not being solved,” Tavadyan listed.
Russian State Duma deputy Konstantin Zatulin believes that the only solution to the long-term conflict can only be recognition of the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh.
“I came to the conclusion that it is impossible, without humiliation, repression, catastrophe and, perhaps, a new genocide, to force the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh to live as part of Azerbaijan without guarantees that would grant independence status to the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic they created. Armenia did not recognize the independence of Artsakh. It was believed that this would hinder its ability in the settlement process. This was wrong. So that the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh does not become a reason for new clashes, a gesture of goodwill was required on its part to transfer to Azerbaijan those areas along the perimeter of the republic that were occupied by the Armenian side during hostilities in 1994,” Zatulin said.
He is confident that the blame for the 2020 conflict lies with Azerbaijan, but the Pashinyan government also bears responsibility. It considered Karabakh a burden, since all the opposition came from there, and allowed its army to be humiliated. At the same time, Zatulin admitted Russia’s mistakes.
“For whom does the bell toll if your ally loses the war? For you. Russia had to make every effort to prevent this war from happening. This war should not have been allowed to happen. Claims against our intelligence community, against our political leadership, against those who underestimated the consequences of these military actions. To think that these military actions were unexpected for us is even worse than to think that we decided to stay on the sidelines at the first stage. The Americans warned their citizens in advance that they needed to leave this territory,” Zatulin recalled.
At the same time, he believes that Russian peacekeepers have corrected the situation. Zatulin explains Russia's contacts with Turkey and Azerbaijan by the fact that the president is forced to maneuver in order to keep these countries from joining the Western camp. And yet Russia, in his opinion, should have declared Azerbaijan’s aggression in 2020 and not delayed the resolution of the Karabakh problem, which led to Yerevan’s search for another mediator. The deputy did not rule out that after signing the “Washington Declaration” Pashinyan will ask Russia to remove its peacekeepers.
“The West is striving at all costs to oust Russia from the negotiation process. For people from Armenia who enter into this kind of deal, this will end badly,” concluded Zatulin.
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