Nikol Pashinyan reveals new details of Karabakh talks

ArmInfo. "Interview of the" rejected "(as Nikol Pashinyan calls the formed President of the Republic of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan - Ed. noted) is a very good reason to disclose  new details of the content of the negotiations (on Nagorno-Karabakh -  ed. note), which could not have been made public earlier due to  certain restrictions, "said acting Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol  Pashinyan, answering to the questions of parliamentarians.

So, according to Pashinyan, years will pass, and the public will  learn about the letter from Serzh Sragsyan to the mediators of the  OSCE MG. "From the letter we learn that Sargsyan had some concern  about a possible referendum, and it is not indicated where it will be  held, but it is indicated that there should be an opportunity for the  free expression of the will of the entire population  (Nagorno-Karabakh - Ed. note) - and Sargsyan had concern about how  many Azerbaijanis will be considered the population of Nagorno-  Karabakh, "Pashinyan said.

In connection with this fact, as Pashinyan stated, "we learn that  Azerbaijanis, who are potential residents of Nagorno-Karabakh, should  also take part in this referendum, but in order to be a resident of  Nagorno- Karabakh, one must live in Nagorno-Karabakh." Thus, as  stated by the acting head of the Cabinet, he is grateful to Sargsyan  for the opportunity to reveal the details. "After all, when I spoke  about Shushi a few months ago, the former authorities argued that  there was no such question: The question is - where should  Azerbaijanis, residents of Nagorno-Karabakh have lived? I hope  everyone understands the answer to this question," acting head of  government noted.

In addition, according to him, the opinion is put forward that when  the negotiator is changed, the logic of the negotiation process will  change. "Years will pass, the content of the documents will be  revealed, and we will learn that the content of the negotiation  process has changed, distorted in autumn 2015 and winter 2016. If  Serzh Sargsyan decided that he should make discoveries, then let him  be kind enough to tell people about the events of autumn 2015 and  winter 2016, after which there was the spring of 2016 and April 2  (the day the April war began, ed. note.). The content of the  negotiation process changed at this time, which is confirmed by the  documents available. There are protocols of negotiations with which I  worked in 2018 - after became Prime Minister, "Nikol Pashinyan said.   Acting Prime Minister touched upon Sargsyan's words that the Armenian  side was striving for a peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict.  "The question is - did Azerbaijan want the same?", Pashinyan asked.   He recalled the words of the 3rd RA President that the April war  meant Baku's refusal to resolve the conflict within the framework of  the Madrid principles, which read "a referendum and an interim  status."

"Thus, the abandonment of the Madrid principles meant the abandonment  of the referendum and interim status," he said. Hence, according to  him, the most important, fundamental question arises - in the fall of  2015 and in the winter of 2016 it could be such that the mediators  began to defend the approaches of Azerbaijan, and the Madrid  principles, in fact, were only a signboard, but in fact other  processes took place in the framework of "5 + 2".  According to him,  there has never been an opportunity for the "5 + 2 districts" format,  because back in 2016, in his interview, Serzh Sargsyan spoke about 7  districts. The acting prime minister noted that the "5 + 2" format  was a negotiating reserve, so that in the future, if the process  crosses the point of no return, at some stage these 2 regions would  make the process, the deal itself, more profitable for the parties.