Artsakh cannot exist under the subordination of Azerbaijan: the speech of the Civil Contract deputy contradicts the Civil Contract program

After the Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in his lengthy speech in the National Assembly yesterday stated that “the international community is telling us again to lower your bar on the status of Nagorno Karabakh a little and you will ensure great international consolidation around Armenia and Artsakh,” the representatives of the ruling team started to develop this idea on different platforms, generally promoting the idea that the existence of Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan cannot be ruled out.

In particular, at the April 14 sitting of the National Assembly, the deputy of the ruling Civil Contract faction Vigen Khachatryan stated that the idea that Karabakh has no future within Azerbaijan is not correct.

“Back in 1996, the idea was put forward that Karabakh has no future within Azerbaijan. Years have passed and today we can say that it was not right in my opinion,” Khachatryan announced from the NA tribune.

This statement of the pro-government MP contradicts not only the mention of the principle of self-determination of the people of Artsakh in the program of the current government, but also the pre-election program of the Civil Contract party.

What is written in the CC pre-election program of 2021?

“The Issue of Artsakh” section of the pre-election program listed all the issues that the Civil Contract will solve in case of winning the elections, as well as the principles that are primary for them in resolving the Artsakh issue.

“Our main objective in the coming years must be to eliminate the consequences of the catastrophic war, as well as to ensure the security of the people of Artsakh and the peaceful, comprehensive settlement of the Karabakh conflict based on self-determination of Artsakh people without restrictions, which stems from the need to resist to the existential risks of the Artsakh people. The fact that the Armenians were evicted from all the territories of Artsakh where Azeri control has been established as a result of mass human rights violations and crimes, indicates that the people of Artsakh cannot survive under the subordination of Azerbaijan.”

In other words, the provision on the impossibility of Artsakh being part of Azerbaijan is also included in the pre-election program of the CC.

Opposing from the NA tribune the idea put forward since 1996 to exclude Artsakh as a part of Azerbaijan, in fact, Vigen Khachatryan is also opposing the idea of the 2021 pre-election program of his own political force. The provision in the pre-election program stipulates that people of Artsakh cannot survive under the subordination of Azerbaijan.

Thus, we can state that the deputy of the CC faction Vigen Khachatryan contradicts the provision written in his own pre-election program.

Sevada Ghazaryan

Nane Manasyan