ArmInfo.The ratification of the "Shusha Declaration" by the Azerbaijani and now the Turkish parliament is one of the components of the absorption of Azerbaijan by Turkey. A similar opinion was expressed to ArmInfo by Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Armenia, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Artsakh Arman Melikyan.
"It is extremely important for Ankara to demonstrate the absence, in fact, of Azerbaijan's interests in all this. The latter are part of Turkish interests, respectively, should be discussed with Ankara, moreover, not only in case of issues related to Armenia, but also to Russia and Iran. That does not bode well for Armenia, the Russian Federation and Iran. And in the context of the Armenian-Turkish process of normalizing relations, the ratification of the declaration speaks in favor of the forced discussion between Yerevan and Ankara and the Artsakh problem," he noted.
Against this background, according to the diplomat, the leadership of Armenia and Artsakh does not have an elementary articulate program of action, even separately. Not to mention a single program. In light of this, the response or lack thereof from Yerevan or Stepanakert to the transition of the "Shusha Declaration" from the theoretical to the practical plane cannot have significant political significance.
According to Melikyan, the leadership of Armenia today is a kind of hostage to the policy of the Turkish- Azerbaijani tandem of the threat of the use of force. And as a result of the 44-day war, the leadership of Artsakh found itself in the grip of the kindred embrace of the Russian Federation, and today it does not have the ability to move independently. In this light, the diplomat absolutely does not consider the bill "On the Occupation of the Territories of Artsakh" recently received by the Artsakh Parliament as a prerequisite for the ratification of the "Shusha Declaration".
In his opinion, in its recent actions in the South Caucasus, Ankara is guided by a clear, well-considered political line, within the framework of which it carries out a long-term and ambitious program. The latter involves the implementation of steps in a certain sequence. And most importantly, it enjoys the support of some major international players.
Commenting on the formation of a working group in Azerbaijan to remove "fictitious traces left by Armenians on "Albanian" religious temples," the diplomat recalled that Baku has used and will continue to use the most barbaric methods to destroy any material evidence of the centuries-old belonging of Artsakh to the Armenian people. Melikyan considers the formation of this body as part of the implementation of one of Aliyev's goals to neutralize Armenia's "territorial claims".
"By and large, I don't see anything new here. This is a continuation of the policy of destroying the Armenian trace and heritage in Nakhichevan. And since his accession, Aliyev personally has been the author of all this barbarism. In Azerbaijan, they continue to write history on order. But Artsakh historians and archaeologists have also done a lot in recent decades to make information about Artsakh's historical, cultural and material heritage available outside the country," Melikyan concluded.