Armenia-Azerbaijan peace agreement to close Artsakh border forever -  Vartan Oskanian

ArmInfo.The so-called peace agreement between Yerevan and Baku is going to be signed soon.  Its content will close border of Artsakh forever, Armenia's former FM Vartan Oskanian stated in a video message posted on his Facebook account. 

"According to my information, this so-called peace agreement has  moved quite far and is close to signing.  Previously, this document  contained a clause, if I'm not mistaken, clause 9, which spoke about  the rights and independence of the people of Artsakh, today this  clause has been excluded from this agreement. there is no mention of  Artsakh, and if the agreement is signed with such content, then we  will close the Artsakh page," Oskanian emphasized.

The diplomat considers the recent statement by the President of  Azerbaijan that Armenians should forget about Artsakh to be no  coincidence. "Forgetting Artsakh means forgetting the past, our  history, all our cultural heritage. We cannot forget Artsakh, because  Artsakh is an Armenian land. Artsakh has never been part of  independent Azerbaijan, even in the Soviet period Artsakh had an  autonomous status, and in the last 30 years, Artsakh has become a de  facto political unit. It is impossible to demand that the Armenian  people consign Artsakh to oblivion," he noted.

At the same time, according to him, the problem is that the RA  authorities are taking this step. "Azerbaijan must understand that  they are signing this agreement not with Armenia, with the Armenian  people, but with Nikol Pashinyan and his government. The Armenian  people cannot forget Artsakh. The return of the people of Artsakh to  their homes must be part of this agreement, if this is truly a peace  agreement ", Oskanyan concluded.

In turn, Gegham Manukyan of the Armenia parliamentary bloc called the  document that the Armenian authorities intend to sign dangerous.

"After many inquiries today in the building of the Armenian Foreign  Ministry, we finally got acquainted with the latest proposals from  Yerevan and Baku regarding an agreement on the settlement of  relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Acquaintance with the  proposals only confirmed its danger and strengthened all the fears  that we previously expressed about this," he wrote.

RA Security Council Secretary Armen Grigoryan, in an interview with  Petros Ghazaryan at PTA, recalled that Armenia expressed its  readiness to sign a peace treaty with Azerbaijan by the end of  December.  "The latest response of the Armenian side to Baku's  proposals for a peace treaty indicates solutions to some issues that  have not yet been agreed upon by the parties. Armenia states that if  the Azerbaijani side agrees to 3 basic principles for settling  relations, then more than 70% of the peace treaty will be agreed  upon," he said.

At the same time, Grigoryan believes that meetings of foreign  ministers, and then a meeting of country leaders, are possible. If  there is political will, it is possible to enter the final stage and  sign a peace treaty within one month. The Security Council Secretary  added that both bilateral and multilateral formats of negotiations  are being discussed, with the possibility of a successful outcome. He  recalled that Armenia responded positively to the proposal to hold  negotiations in Washington.

Regarding the issue of putting pressure on Yerevan on this issue,  Grigoryan assured that Armenia is focusing on real possibilities for  solving problems. "Despite unresolved issues, including other  prisoners and information about missing persons, Armenia expresses  its readiness to continue working with Azerbaijan to find solutions  to these issues," he said, reiterating the possibility of signing a  treaty before the end of the year.