Robert Kocharyan: The return of Artsakh Armenians to their homeland  is possible, but not at the moment

ArmInfo.  "One of our core platform objectives is the right of Artsakh Armenians to return to Artsakh,". stated Robert Kocharyan, the second president of Armenia  and the prime ministerial candidate from the "Armenia" bloc, at a  meeting with journalists in Meghri.

At the same time, he noted that this issue is not conflict-inducing,  much like consistent efforts regarding the international recognition  of the 1915 Armenian Genocide. "Ultimately, there is a ruling by the  International Court of Justice, and statements have been voiced by  the European Court. On the contrary, within the negotiation process,  this will strengthen Armenia's positions," Kocharyan said.

According to the ex-president, the return of the people of Artsakh to  their homeland is realistic, but not at the present moment. "We are  talking about a safe and guaranteed return. And it is difficult to  fight against this. For instance, it will be difficult for  Azerbaijan—they will have to explain 'why not?'" the politician  noted.  Simultaneously, Kocharyan described the current authorities'  policy regarding the "return" of 300,000 Azerbaijanis to Armenia as  unacceptable and contrary to Armenia's national interests.

First, according to all demographic and statistical data, around  160,000 Azerbaijanis lived in Armenia, not 300,000. Second, Aliyev's  narrative—echoed by Nikol Pashinyan—proposing that the right of  Artsakh citizens to return to their homeland should be linked to the  return of Azerbaijanis to Armenia is fundamentally flawed. This is  because the majority of Azerbaijanis left Armenia under state-level  exchange programs, and today in Azerbaijan, there are many villages  that were populated as part of these exchange initiatives. Pashinyan  fails to grasp this, placing the two issues on the same level and  speaking in the terminology of the Azerbaijani authorities.  Consequently, if Pashinyan remains in power, the Azerbaijanis—for  whom the issue of the so-called "return of 300,000 people" is pushed  at the state level— will ultimately achieve their goal.

In this context, Kocharyan pointed out the Armenian authorities' lack  of understanding of protecting the country's territorial integrity.  This applies to the transfer of the "Goris-Kapan" road based on  incomprehensible GPS data, and now there's talk of transferring  Tigranakert based on the same incomprehensible principle, without any  serious documentary justification. "These people don't have the same  attitude toward land that a country's leaders should have. The  constitutions of all nations speak of territorial integrity—that is,  the territory where the people live. And the authorities are  obligated to defend this principle. But they don't understand this.  Without a doubt, we will approach this with a completely opposite  standpoint," Kocharyan emphasized.