Wednesday, May 5 2021 18:42

ArmInfo. At one time, former President Serzh Sargsyan was ready to cede 7 regions and half of the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijan. This was announced by  acting Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan during Government  Hour in Parliament, answering a question from MP Tigran Urikhanyan.

In particular, Pashinyan recalled the interview of former Armenian  President Serzh Sargsyan to the Russia Today agency on November 17,  2016, in which he "literally said that they were ready to cede 7  regions to Azerbaijan. But Azerbaijan demanded more." "Each time  Azerbaijan put forward new demands. I will tell you more - Serzh  Sargsyan would have given Azerbaijan even more, up to half of  Karabakh, but Azerbaijan said <no>, " he said.

Acting Prime Minister recalled his words, which sounded on May 3 in  parliament. He then, according to him, revealed "new layers" of the  content of the talks on Karabakh," which could not have been made  public earlier due to certain restrictions," stating that years would  pass and the public would learn about Serzh Sragsyan's letter to the  OSCE MG mediators. "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 ( of  Nagorno- Karabakh - Ed. note), and Sargsyan had concern about how  many Azerbaijanis will be considered the population of  Nagorno-Karabakh, "Pashinyan said then.

"I was surprised that the Republicans (RPA, Ed. note) reacted to my  statement, noting that the population equivalent to the population of  Karabakh in the Soviet period should have taken part in the  referendum," Pashinyan said. In this case, according to him, if one  is to believe the official statistics, one should bear in mind that  during the Soviet era, 40 thousand Azerbaijanis lived in Karabakh.  "And if these 40 thousand Azerbaijanis received the status of  residents of Karabakh, then I ask where they were supposed to live?"

Pursuing this line of thought, Pashinyan noted that even if we assume  that 40 thousand Azerbaijanis will restore their status as residents  of Nagorno-Karabakh, then we can assume that they will live where  they previously lived. In addition, as Pashinyan pointed out, even if  we assume that 40 thousand Azerbaijanis and 130 thousand Armenians of  Karabakh would take part in the referendum, and the Armenian  population would self-determine by a majority of votes, then the  question of guarantees arises that these 40 thousand Azerbaijanis ,  in turn, would not want to define themselves.

Pashinyan also does not understand where the referendum was supposed  to take place - in Karabakh alone or throughout the territory of  Azerbaijan. According to him, for all the onerousness of the  negotiating document that was on Sargsyan's table, Azerbaijan did not  agree with it. As Pashinyan emphasized, the previous government did  everything to ensure that Armenia capitulated.