Armenian premier`s actions were aimed at surrendering Artsakh to  Azerbaijan - MP

ArmInfo.  Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan considers Artsakh an instrument of control over the country, a kind of noose around Armenia's neck. This was written on his Facebook page by Artur Khachatryan, a member of the National Assembly from the opposition faction "Armenia".

In this vein, the oppositionist explained that all of Nikol  Pashinyan's actions were aimed at breaking this noose, that is,  tearing Artsakh away from Armenia and handing it over to Azerbaijan.

According to Khachatryan, this is precisely why the Armenian Prime  Minister disrupted the negotiation process: first by demanding a  change in the negotiation format, and then by threatening to  reconsider the principles of the settlement within the framework of  the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmanship, and by rejecting the mediators'  latest proposal for a settlement in June 2019.

"The negotiations have reached a dead end. After 1998, all proposals  for a settlement were rejected by Azerbaijan, and in 2019, Nikol  Pashinyan did the same. After the breakdown of the negotiations,  official Yerevan stepped up its rhetoric, claiming that "Artsakh is  Armenia, period," and also raising the topic of a new war for new  territories," the MP continued.

Then, as Khachatryan recalled, there followed the July 2020 clashes  on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border in the direction of Tavush and  their glorification in Sardarapat. According to the MP, Pashinyan  could not help but realize the consequences of this glorification:  war and defeat in the war, the document of November 9, 2020 and the  abdication of responsibility to Artsakh. Khachatryan drew attention  to the fact that not a single official document stated that the  Armenian Armed Forces should leave the territory of Artsakh.

"And he withdrew these troops, and he did so demonstratively.  Pashinyan did not take any steps to lift the blockade of Artsakh.  Petty, meaningless and useless statements about fear. And in October  2022 (the Prague quadripartite agreement, by which Pashinyan  recognized Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan - ed.) he betrayed Artsakh,  illegally recognizing Azerbaijan's sovereignty over it. The same  thing happened in May 2023 (in Granada - ed.). And in September of  the same year, for the first time since 1988, exhausted and  abandoned, heroic Artsakh was left alone against the Turks. The  "noose" was thrown off, Artsakh was de- Armenianized and occupied by  Azerbaijan," Khachatryan wrote, adding that after this, the Armenian  prime minister has been trying in every possible way to shift his  responsibility for these actions to others.

The MP emphasized that in order to finally close the issue, the  Armenian Prime Minister constantly mentions some decree of the  President of Artsakh. In this vein, Khachatryan wondered whether  anyone had seen this paper, noting that even the Prime Minister  himself was not familiar with its contents.

In this regard, the opposition MP recalled that the President of the  Republic of Artsakh Samvel Shahramanyan was forced to sign this  document to prevent the entry of Azerbaijanis into peaceful cities  and villages and to minimize the number of victims. Khachatryan  emphasized that tens of thousands of people were saved and arrived in  Armenia on the basis of this document, which had no legal basis.

"Now Nikol and "Arabat" (Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan -  ed.) refer to this document to justify their actions. If they really  cared about Artsakh, and not about maintaining power at the cost of  getting rid of the "noose", they would have challenged the validity  of this paper immediately after the last resident of Artsakh crossed  the Hakari Bridge in the Lachin corridor. But they did not do this.  They did not do it because they did not pursue the goal of preserving  Artsakh," Khachatryan summarized.

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.