Vartan Oskanian: Pashinyan represented himself in Ankara, not the  Armenian people

ArmInfo. With his visit to Turkey for the inauguration of Recep Tayyip Erdogan as Prime Minister  of the Republic of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan once again showed that he is far from diplomacy. A similar opinion was expressed by former RA Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian.  The diplomat recalled that  Pashinyan's participation in Erdogan's swearing-in ceremony caused surprise and indignation in the broad circles of Armenia and the Diaspora.

"Honestly, this visit did not surprise or outrage me, because in  Ankara Pashinyan represented not the Armenian people, but himself. He  did not even represent his entire party or the entire government,  because I am sure there are people there who are against his  participation," added Oskanian.

Leaving aside the emotional and moral part of the issue of what  values he trampled on Ankara, Oskanian presented their political and  diplomatic component.

The former head of the RA Foreign Ministry once again stressed that  if Pashinyan had minimal diplomatic skills, then the Armenian side  would at least have avoided war. "And today we would have Artsakh  with the entire territory of Nagorno-Karabakh of the Autonomous  Region, the 20-kilometer Lachin corridor recognized by Azerbaijan,  Turkey and the international community, and with an intermediate  status guaranteed by the UN Security Council and with open borders  with Azerbaijan and Turkey.

Pashinyan did not understand that by providing assistance to Turkey  after the earthquake and participating in Erdogan's swearing-in  ceremony, he cannot gain Turkey's affection in terms of resolving  Armenian- Turkish relations," Oskanian added, stating that Ankara  will do so when it considers it appropriate.

At the same time, according to him, the key to opening the  Armenian-Turkish border and establishing diplomatic relations is in  Baku.

"Now that Nagorno-Karabakh is surrendered to Baku, and other  conditions of Azerbaijan will soon be fulfilled, Turkey will open the  border regardless of whether or not he visits," the diplomat said.

However, according to him, there is also the question of Pashinyan's  dignity. "Erdogan, in the literal and figurative sense of the word,  insulted not only the Armenian people, but also Pashinyan himself.   Relations between Armenia and Turkey can hardly be considered more  important than, for example, relations between France and Greece with  this country. However, neither Macron nor Mitsotakis participated in  that ceremony, I think also because Erdogan insulted them personally.   It was right not to go. If among the entire Armenian people there was  at least one person who would be hurt by this visit, then there would  be no need to go, because without going, we wouldn't lose anything,"  he concluded.