Armenia had Artsakh`s independence actually recognized back in 1997 -  Levon Zurabyan

ArmInfo.Armenia, thanks to its principled and consistent position on the impossibility of Artsakh being part of Azerbaijan, ensured that in November 1997 the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group presented the conflicting parties with a phased settlement option, which Nagorno- Karabakh was also supposed to sign, and on equal status with Azerbaijan and Armenia, Levon Zurabyan, Vice-Chairman of the Armenian National Congress, wrote on his Facebook account. 

In response to the statements made by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan  at a parliamentary meeting on November 16, the politician stated that  the head of the Armenian Cabinet, speaking about the loss of Artsakh  and the threat to the independence of Armenia, made another  surprising statement.

He recalled that Pashinyan said yesterday that what Armenia wanted in  relation to Nagorno-Karabakh was no longer possible, at least after  the OSCE summit in December 1996 in Lisbon. According to him, the  goal of the participants in the Lisbon meeting was to prevent the  creation of a state in Armenia and to use the Karabakh issue as a  lever to prevent the development of Armenian statehood, not to allow  the resolution of the Karabakh issue under any scenario until in this  way it is possible to resolve the issue of termination of existence  Armenia. According to the Armenian Prime Minister, at least since  1996, the Karabakh issue no longer existed, the RA issue existed, and  the events of October 27, 1998, 1999, 2020, 2023 should be considered  in this context.

"The current leader of Armenia today cynically declares that we have  lost Artsakh, and the existence and independence of Armenia have been  called into question since 1996.

And this is said by the leader who failed negotiations to resolve the  Karabakh conflict in 2018-2020; dragged us into an unequal 44-day war  with Azerbaijan and completely failed to manage Armenia's military  efforts in this war; unilaterally recognized Nagorno-Karabakh as part  of Azerbaijan, which actually invited Azerbaijan to the ethnic  cleansing of Artsakh Armenians with obvious elements of genocide.

In addition, after the 44-day war of 2020, he surrendered many  positions, initially without a fight, then destroyed the construction  of defensive structures on the borders and contributed to the capture  of many positions of strategic importance on the territory of Armenia  by Azerbaijan in September 2022.

Moreover, for the sake of concluding peace with Azerbaijan, Artsakh  was sacrificed, but it never received this peace, thereby, in  essence, calling into question the territorial integrity and  sovereignty of the Republic of Armenia," Zurabyan stated.

In fact, according to the politician, in 1996, Armenia was so strong  that, speaking against great powers, including the United States,  Russia and France, it single-handedly vetoed an undesirable option  for resolving the Karabakh conflict, without paying for it any  diplomatic prices.

"This fact alone proves that at that time Armenia was at the peak of  its independence and power.

In fact, according to the politician, in 1996, Armenia was so strong  that, speaking against great powers, including the United States,  Russia and France, it single-handedly vetoed an undesirable option  for resolving the Karabakh conflict, without paying for it any  diplomatic prices.

"This fact alone proves that at that time Armenia was at the peak of  its independence and power.

Armenia, thanks to its principled and consistent position on the  impossibility of Artsakh being part of Azerbaijan, ensured that in  November 1997 the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group presented the  conflicting parties with a phased settlement option, which  Nagorno-Karabakh was also supposed to sign, and on equal status with  Azerbaijan and Armenia. Moreover, the decision did not include any  reference to the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan," Zurabyan  recalled.

According to him, the world recognized the de facto independence of  Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as Armenian control over the territories  connecting Armenia and Artsakh, demanding only the return of  territories outside Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijan.

"The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group put a similar document on  Nikol Pashinyan's table in 2019- 2020, but he categorically refused  to even discuss this document, dragging us into a destructive war.

"Having compared all the facts, we can once again state that  Pashinyan today is busy justifying his guilt and responsibility for  the loss of Artsakh and creating a threat to the independence of  Armenia. If this requires falsifying the historical truth, Nikol  Pashinyan will not hesitate for a second, because for the sake of his  own salvation he is ready to sacrifice all national values, including  the heroic victories of previous generations," Zurabyan stated.