Referendum would be final step in recognizing Artsakh`s independence

ArmInfo.  No country in the world has recognized the independence of Artsakh, which was on the path to self-determination. This was stated by the second President  of Armenia, leader of the "Armenia" bloc, Robert Kocharyan, during  the latest episode of the "Big Politics" podcast.

Commenting on Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's statements  that he recognized Artsakh as Azerbaijani after the Russian  Federation's top leadership publicly stated this twice, Kocharyan  emphasized that the Armenian prime minister is thus trying to shift  the blame for his mistakes onto others. The second President of  Armenia noted that this issue has been a constant topic on the agenda  since 2020, and has become more pressing since 2023.

"The Speaker of the Armenian Parliament and other officials are  raising this issue for one purpose: to convince our people that we  didn't start the war, that we're not to blame for the surrender of  Artsakh, and that Russia is to blame for everything. And they  probably think Russia doesn't know about this or isn't paying  attention. I don't even know: But if you're throwing out topics for  your domestic audience that affect the interests of other countries,  you should understand that it's not just your voters who are  listening to you," Kocharyan continued. He reiterated that Pashinyan  is trying to shift blame onto Russia for what he himself is  personally guilty of.

Kocharyan further recalled that no country in the world recognized  the independence of Artsakh, which was on the path to  self-determination. "The right to self-determination was recognized  by Artsakh itself, it was recognized by Armenia, but it was on the  path to self-determination. In all countries, this path is long, it  can last for decades. And what does it mean, you recognized it,  because Russia recognized it? Neither Russia, nor the United States,  nor France (the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries - ed.) questioned  the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. The question is different:  being the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries, recognizing  territorial integrity, they also accepted the Madrid principles and  recognized the right of the Karabakh people to self-determination.  The process proceeded according to this logic, and to say that you  recognized it, therefore I recognized it, what kind of sovereignty is  this? This is from the genre of absurdity. This is just an attempt to  shift responsibility to others. The same can be said about Macron.   Didn't France and Macron recognize the territorial integrity of  Azerbaijan? And the formula was as follows:  all these countries  recognized the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, but at the same  time "Nagorno- Karabakh's right to self-determination. And it was  assumed that the referendum would be the final chord in recognizing  Artsakh's independence," Kocharyan noted.

He once again called Pashinyan's statements on this matter absurd,  recalling that it was Russia's mediation that stopped the war in the  Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone in November 2020. Kocharyan stated  that Russia, without a UN Security Council resolution or any  international structures, persuaded Azerbaijani President Ilham  Aliyev and deployed its peacekeepers to Nagorno-Karabakh. According  to him, under such circumstances, claiming that he was abandoned to  his fate during the war is absurd. He recalled that Pashinyan, while  losing the war, refused to stop the fighting. "Under these  circumstances, Russia intervened, put pressure on Azerbaijan, stopped  the fighting, and deployed its peacekeeping forces. You simply had to  evaluate this and do everything to ensure that the statement of  November 9, 2020, was observed. But he did everything to ensure that  these agreements were not observed," the politician said.

He also noted that the November 9, 2020, statement was not approved  by any parliament and was a manifestation of the Russian president's  will to save Nagorno-Karabakh, while Pashinyan went and destroyed  this entire structure. Kocharyan also dismissed accusations of  inaction against Russian peacekeepers as groundless, noting that they  were stripped of any mandate after Armenia refused to participate in  the negotiation process, recognizing Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan.  "This is precisely what Russia is saying. With this move by  Pashinyan, Karabakh has become an internal issue for Azerbaijan, the  automatic Artsakh Armed Forces have become illegal, and Karabakh has  become a separatist movement, not a people moving towards  self-determination," Kocharyan concluded.