
ArmInfo. The anti-state operation "Reject Serzh" was actually intended to be the operation "Reject Artsakh", as noted by Eduard Sharmazanov, Board member of the Republican Party of Armenia. The politician reminded that in a few days, on September 2, the Armenian people will be celebrating the anniversary of Artsakh's independence.
"It is an undeniable fact that 1988-2018 were the period of triumph for the Armenian people. And this victorious golden age was, first of all, due to the Artsakh movement, which led to the Armenian people gaining an independent Armenia and a free Artsakh. However, there were forces in the region and the globalized world, that were not content with this reality. Therefore, they began to "grow" cosmopolitan and anti-state elements in Armenia, advocating for the idea of "giving up Artsakh so that we can live well" and attempting to drive a wedge between the different layers of the Armenian people. A fierce counter- propaganda was launched against the Artsakh movement, its leaders, and the national figures and forces that had triumphed over Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani-Turkish expression "Karabakh clan" was put into circulation. Anti-national and anti-state forces initiated a dirty campaign against national forces, particularly targeting the Republican Party of Armenia and its leader, the third President of the Republic of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan. Why? Because Serzh Sargsyan had clear "red lines", which were the theses "Artsakh cannot be part of Azerbaijan" and "There is no alternative to the realization of Artsakh's right to self-determination."
Before 2018, anti-state forces made several unsuccessful coup attempts. However, in 2018, they carried out an anti-state operation called "Reject Serzh", using the services of several Armenian "Trojan horses", which essentially meant "Reject Artsakh", Sharmazanov noted. He added that the Republican Party of Armenia and other political figures tried to warn the public about falling into this anti-Armenian trap. However, the forces and resources were unequal. "Even after the 2018 coup, the Republican Party led by Serzh Sargsyan, openly declared the anti-state nature of Nikolism (RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan - (ed.). Serzh Sargsyan and the Republican Party openly declared a fair and pro-Armenian settlement of the Artsakh issue based on the well-known three principles developed by the OSCE Minsk Group. However, the authors and executors of the plan to surrender Artsakh were resolute. They actually rejected Serzh Sargsyan's negotiating legacy and started "from scratch". The declared that "Artsakh is Armenia, and that's it!". Eventually, they unleashed a war and surrendered most of Artsakh in the fall of 2020.
Starting in April 2022, moving away from the Russian negotiating platform and aligning with the Western platform of Charles Michel, they recognized Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan on October 6, 2022, in Prague. This served as the "green light" for Azerbaijan to proceed with an operation aimed at capturing and depopulating Artsakh in 2023. In just a few years, we lost Artsakh. Why did this happen? Because we also did not appreciate our previous victories and successes. After all, after April 2016, we were proud of our army and victories. After all, on October 7, 2016, Aliyev stated that he was being pressured to recognize the independence of Artsakh. And this pressure was not arbitrary. It was the direct result of the effective and strategic foreign and defense policy of President Serzh Sargsyan. This policy was not beneficial to Turkey and the forces under Turkey's control. There is one goal: to completely eliminate Armenia's subjectivity," the politician noted.