Saghatelyan: Artsakh is Armenian, and the right of the Artsakh people to return is not subject to negotiation

ArmInfo. Artsakh has always been Armenian, and the right of the Artsakh people to return is not subject to negotiation. This was stated by Ishkhan Saghatelyan, a member of the Armenian parliament from the opposition Armenia faction, at the Yerablur military pantheon on September 2, on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the proclamation of the Republic of Artsakh.

According to him, it is not for Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to decide whether this is true or not. "Pashinyan continues to serve Turkish-Azerbaijani interests in Armenia. However, I will continue to say that Artsakh is Armenian, and the right of the Artsakh people to return is not subject to negotiation," the MP stated.

At the same time, he acknowledged that promoting this issue on international platforms has become very difficult, as the Armenian authorities are working against this agenda. "We are trying to do everything we can to keep this issue on the agenda. The difficulty is that we are facing obstacles not only from the leadership of Turkey and Azerbaijan, but also from the anti-Armenian policies of the Armenian leadership. The international perception of the right of return still persists. However, I repeat, it is difficult to advance this issue when there is no state that supports you. The most important thing now is to keep this issue on the agenda and not allow the genocide and ethnic cleansing that occurred in Artsakh to be legitimized," Saghatelyan emphasized.

Regarding the ongoing efforts to return Armenian prisoners from Azerbaijan, Saghatelyan noted that there have been two major opportunities recently to resolve this issue: the UN Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Baku and the peace summit in Washington in August 2025. "But the state is not addressing this issue, that's a fact." "All our problems are linked to the fact that Armenia's leadership has nothing to do with Armenian interests," the opposition figure noted.

Overall, according to Saghatelyan, Pashinyan is dragging the country into a new, large-scale adventure that will have dire consequences for Armenia. "The Republic of Armenia and our people will pay for this. He has presented the country with a concrete alternative. The consequences of this will be grave," the MP concluded.

As a reminder, on September 2, 1991, based on the USSR Law "On the Procedure for Resolving Issues Related to the Secession of a Union Republic from the USSR," a joint session of deputies at all levels of the NKAO and Shahumyan region proclaimed the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR).