Yerevan, Baku discussing Armenia denationalization programme, not peace agreement - opposition MP

ArmInfo. The latest statements by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev once again confirm the opposition's claims that it is not a peace treaty that is being discussed with the Armenian side, but a program for the denationalization of Armenia. This was written on his Facebook page by Ishkhan Saghatelyan, a member of parliament from the opposition faction "Armenia", a representative of the Supreme Body of the ARF  "Dashnaktsutyun" party.

Dashnaktsutyun noted that Aliyev's latest demands voiced the day before, in particular, the rejection of instruments for the  protection of rights, the withdrawal of claims from international  courts, the dissolution of the OSCE Minsk Group, changes to the Constitution of Armenia, as well as demilitarization, are not aimed at establishing peace, but at the destruction of the Armenian factor and identity.

In this vein, the deputy also recalled the program for the  resettlement of Azerbaijanis in Armenia, voiced by Aliyev, noting that these steps are also aimed at achieving these goals. "Let's once again state the simple truth that Nikol Pashinyan is afraid to voice at the negotiating table. The issue of the return of Azerbaijanis who settled in Armenia at different times cannot be identified with the issue of restoring the rights of our compatriots who were forcibly displaced from Artsakh under the immediate threat of genocide," the ARF representative emphasized in this regard.

As Saghatelyan explained, the issue raised by the Azerbaijani side should be discussed in the context of the rights of Armenians who fled as a result of mass pogroms in Baku, Sumgait and other cities of Azerbaijan (Kirovabad, Maragha - ed.).

In this regard, he once again emphasized that the only way to contain Azerbaijan's new demands should be to clearly raise the Artsakh issue in the negotiations and persistently protect the rights of the forcibly displaced residents of the NKR.

"The right and status of Artsakh Armenians to return should be a priority and the main agenda for any negotiator guided by Armenian interests. Otherwise, Aliyev's statements once again confirm that the end result of the program to appease Azerbaijan through concessions will only be new and tougher demands," the MP concluded.

In an interview with VGTRK and RIA Novosti, Aliyev stated that about 300,000 Azerbaijanis had officially appealed to the Armenian leadership with a request to create conditions for their "return and reintegration," but no response had yet been received from the Armenian side. And this is in conditions when, in the early 90s of the last century, Azerbaijanis who left the territory of the Republic of Armenia received compensation upon departure, unlike more than 500,000 Armenians who were forced to abandon their property in the Azerbaijan SSR and flee only to save their lives.

In addition, Aliyev stated that in order to conclude a peace treaty with Armenia, it is necessary to agree on two more controversial points out of 17 - the waiver of mutual lawsuits and the obligation not to deploy foreign forces on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. He also criticized France, the United States, India and other countries for selling weapons to Armenia, stating: "A peace treaty and the simultaneous arming of Armenia against us are two incompatible courses."

On September 19, 2023, Azerbaijan, under the pretext of an  "anti-terrorist operation", committed another act of aggression  against Artsakh. This was preceded by a nearly 10-month blockade of the unrecognized republic. Since the enemy aggression that began in the fall of 2020, which in September 2023 ended with the complete ethnic cleansing of Artsakh, over 150 thousand Artsakh residents have lost their homeland and become refugees.