Thursday, June 18 2020 12:08

ArmInfo. Throughout almost the entire course of the negotiation process to resolve the Artsakh conflict, the problems of Armenian refugees from Azerbaijan were deliberately ignored and hushed up. The former head of the Artsakh  Foreign Ministry, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Arman  Melikyan expressed a similar opinion to ArmInfo.

''The responsibility for this hush up, in my opinion, lies with both  official Yerevan and the Artsakh authorities. I will not go into  details now and will just note that the concept of  politico-diplomatic introduction of this key problem into the general  context of negotiations has been ready for a long time.  This concept  is the most important factor in protecting and realizing our vital  interests in the negotiations on Artsakh. I myself have repeatedly  stated this publicly'', he stressed.

Melikyan noted with regret the absence until recently of any movement  in this direction. Moreover, according to his estimates, the issue of  Armenian refugees from Azerbaijan is excluded from politics and only  occasionally it is used for purely propaganda purposes, parasitizing  on the terrible grief and loss of compatriots.

<While, instead, a really comprehensive political and legal solution  to the problem of our refugees from Azerbaijan should be taken. It is  necessary to take steps, and not waste time on meaningless  conversations.  A formula through which we can fully comply with our  interests in the political, legal, territorial, economic, and  demographic aspects has already been developed. It remains to take it  into service and finally begin to implement it,> the diplomat  concluded.

Azerbaijan periodically cites the notorious <million refugees> as an  argument in the negotiation process.  The Armenian side of the  negotiations mainly continues to appeal to the right of peoples to  self- determination. Meanwhile, more active involvement of the  factor, the problems of the Armenian refugees from Azerbaijan by the  negotiators will finally allow returning the process "to the ground",  from the problems of territories to the problems of people directly  affected by the conflict. Meanwhile, according to the UN, Azerbaijan  occupies the houses of 360 thousand Armenian refugees, and Armenia -  250 thousand of Azerbaijani ones.