Committee to preserve Artsakh`s statehood to be formed in Armenia 

ArmInfo.The Artsakh Armenians' exodus thwarted the plans of Baku and Moscow to keep up to  15,000 people hostage, History Professor Ruben Karapetyan writes in his article entitled "Priority tasks of the moment." 

According to him, if a small group of Armenians remained in Artsakh,  Moscow would receive justification for the presence of its  "peacekeeping" forces, and Baku, in a "civilized" way under the  fiction of "reintegration," would finally close the Artsakh issue for  the international community. However, the mass exodus of Armenians  thwarted these plans. Various European structures (European  Parliament, PACE), as well as France, characterized the incident as  ethnic cleansing and clearly established the right of Artsakh  Armenians to return.

As the professor noted, the time factor in diplomacy is one of the  most important. "This is why we need not to miss this opportunity and  immediately act at this historical stage towards the implementation  of the following priority goals: preserving the subjectivity of the  Republic of Artsakh, confirmation by the international community of  the right of the people of Artsakh to self-determination and ensuring  the safe return of Artsakh citizens to their homeland through the  implementation of international peacekeeping mechanisms.

In the current conditions, the continuation of the activities of  state bodies of the Republic of Artsakh is of vital importance. The  international community needs the existence of unrecognized, but  elected, legitimate bodies of Artsakh to continue this process,"  Karapetyan emphasized.

He added that today it is important that the Supreme Court of Artsakh  recognizes the decree of the President of Artsakh on the dissolution  of the Republic, signed under obvious pressure, as unconstitutional.   Then the National Assembly of the Republic of Artsakh, at an off-site  session, must approve a shortened list of state institutions in  accordance with the current situation and announce the continuation  of the activities of all state institutions of the Republic of  Artsakh located outside the Motherland.

"This is extremely important, especially today, when the authorities  of the Republic of Armenia consider the issue of Artsakh closed and  are not going to carry out any work towards preserving the  subjectivity of Artsakh. Moreover, they consider such a process  unacceptable in Armenia, so as not to harm their "peace program" with  Azerbaijan. To thwart this plan, they mobilized the entire political  field of Armenia.

Various political forces and individuals are also making dangerous  attempts to transfer this program into the field of intra-Karabakh  struggle, introducing splits with the ensuing insurmountable negative  consequences.

Taking into account the above, as well as in order to protect the  process and ensure public support, we, together with like-minded  people, initiated the creation of a committee to preserve the  statehood of Artsakh, which included specialists from various  fields," the diplomat emphasized.

He added that the committee is not a political entity, but is called  upon to formulate an appropriate agenda, for the implementation of  which it is ready to cooperate with all interested individuals and  organizations.  This is the first urgent step towards the safe return  of Artsakh Armenians to their homeland and ensuring practical  intervention with the participation of friendly countries.

"Our brothers and sisters cannot and should not return to Artsakh in  today's conditions, when their safety is not ensured. Therefore, it  is possible to implement this process only with the introduction of  new mechanisms, with the presence of a mandate and the presence of  international players. Today's bankrupt and anti-people government of  Armenia will undoubtedly be overthrown, so we must focus on building  the foundations of a new quality and content for the Armenian Fourth  Republic. Azerbaijan's resistance can be easily broken in the  International Criminal Court by opening a criminal case for its  crimes against humanity, relying on jewelry diplomacy and the army  behind Armenia, which is becoming stronger every day.

The above will require serious work and time. We are at a turning  point in Armenian history and we have no choice but to return the  spirit, love, pride, dignity and unity, our Armenian identity, stolen  from us over the years. And this road passes through Artsakh again.  We are obliged to ensure the revival of Artsakh, thanks to which the  creation of a new Armenian statehood will become a reality,"  Karapetyan noted.