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During the press conference held on August 31, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan declared that the formulations by “a group of Karabakh compatriots” and former officials regarding the return of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians to their homeland and their content are unrealistic and are in conflict with the state interests of the Republic of Armenia.
“As for the right to return, I wish to say the following, as we ought to speak directly and honestly about all issues: the perceptions with which a group of our compatriots from Nagorno-Karabakh try to formulate the issue– I have to say it directly– I don’t consider them realistic,” said the Prime Minister and added: “The packaging, and the content that is served, in my opinion, contradicts the state interests of the Republic of Armenia. I measure the Armenian state interest by the internationally recognized territories and jurisdiction of the Republic of Armenia. And we need to say this directly.”
This is not Pashinyan’s only statement with similar content. The Prime Minister of Armenia also considered the return to Artsakh unrealistic in April, during an interview to the British media. In particular, with reference to an episode from the regional visits, Pashinyan said: “During one of the regional visits, a woman forcibly displaced from Nagorno–Karabakh approached me and asked a question, she said: how realistic is it that we stand a chance to return to Nagorno–Karabakh, and she said: please give me a direct and honest answer. I told her: I will answer you directly and honestly, in the current situation and the understanding that exists in our region, and the understanding that exists in Azerbaijan, and the understanding that exists among the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh, in the light of this understanding, I don’t consider it realistic. I said: I cannot deceive you, because if it were realistic, the displacement from Nagorno–Karabakh would not have happened.”
Fact Investigation Platform studied the positions of representatives of a number of political forces in Armenia and Artsakh figures regarding the issue of the return of Artsakh Armenians.
The issue of the return of Artsakh Armenians is kept active by the opposition, and the political forces and figures who have ever been in power in Artsakh. When addressing the issue of the return of Artsakh Armenians, those forces first mention ensuring their rights, inclusion of the right to return in the agenda of negotiations, and return with international safeguards. So far, no force or figure has come up with a plan about the specific steps and their sequence of returning to Artsakh without war.
The issue of the return intensified earlier this year, when a number of political forces in Artsakh and Armenia, including the “Armenia” and “I have honor” alliances, the Republican Party of Armenia and other forces issued a statement demanding that the Armenian authorities include the collective right to return of the people of Artsakh in the agenda of their foreign policy.
“We, the undersigned, demand from the authorities of Armenia to include the demand of the Artsakh people to exercise their collective right to return to Artsakh under international safeguards in the foreign policy agenda and make it a subject of mandatory discussion within the framework of the negotiation process. To live freely in the millennial homeland without obstacles and with international safeguards is the inalienable right of the people of Artsakh and its precondition is the collective return which is enshrined in the international fundamental conventions and documents, as well as the decisions of the International Court of Justice with respect to Artsakh,” the statement reads.
On September 2, in his address on the Independence Day of Artsakh, Serzh Sargsyan, the third President of Armenia, noted: “He who considers that the Armenian page of Artsakh is turned, ignoring the rights of Artsakh Armenians and the possibility of return, is openly serving the interests of the enemy who promotes this nonsensical perspective, dishonoring the memory of the martyrs fallen for Artsakh, and the cherished work of the vast majority of our people who fought for a free and independent life and suffered untold ordeals.” The former official also added: “The issue of Artsakh should return to the agenda of international relations. We can achieve success if we make sufficient efforts and carry out determined work in all possible manners.”
Meanwhile, Seyran Ohanyan, the head of the Armenia faction, stated in a conversation with journalists that it is difficult to return to Artsakh in the face of absence of support from the Armenian authorities but we must fight.
“Artsakh’s page is not turned, considering three circumstances. We should understand that the conflict is not over, a genocide was carried out by the depopulation of Artsakh through the criminal activities of Azerbaijan in September last year. In other words, the conflict has exacerbated. Secondly, the agency of Artsakh should be protected, protected in the sense that all the institutions of Artsakh, the entire administration continue their activities within the framework of the status of the people of Artsakh and, most importantly, ensure the conditions of return, especially international security safeguards. And in that regard, the negotiations on the fate of Artsakh, in the existing format and other new formats that the Armenian people will choose and Artsakh Armenians will choose, have no alternative,” Ohanyan said.
On the same day, at the “Return” event of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, the return to Artsakh was talked about a lot. Ishkhan Saghatelyan, the representative of the Supreme Council of the ARF, specifically stated that the Artsakh conflict is not settled. “The first thing that we, as a nation and a state, should tell the world is that the Artsakh conflict is not settled, Azerbaijan cannot resolve issues in the region by force and threat of force, we will never come to terms with it. Protection of the right of Artsakh Armenians to return to their homeland should become a new national milestone. A citizen of Artsakh has the right to live in their own homeland. It is this issue that should be included in the negotiation agenda. Also, the state institutions of Artsakh must be preserved, the activities of the government bodies formed as a result of the election of the people of Artsakh must be ensured in the Republic of Armenia. The state institutions formed by the people of Artsakh must become the primary entities promoting the right to return to Artsakh. It is them who should define the rights that an Artsakh citizen needs to live in their homeland, and the security that is sufficient to ensure these rights.”
Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, the leader of the “Tavush for the Motherland” movement, presently active in the opposition field, promised his followers to “go to Artsakh through Voskepar” back in May. Galstanyan had not voiced this slogan for a long time. However, on September 2, he wrote in the book launched at the Artsakh representation: “Through Voskepar to Artsakh” and stated in the “Yerablur” pantheon: “The return of Artsakh residents is very realistic. We envision that this issue be included in the negotiation agenda, with international security safeguards, but at the moment there are no negotiations.”
The figures who have ever held positions in Artsakh imagine the return to Artsakh under the recognition of the right to self-determination.
“The return to Artsakh will be possible through international safeguards,” this opinion was expressed by Samvel Shahramanyan elected the President of Artsakh by the National Assembly of Artsakh on September 9, 2023, at a briefing held at the “Yerablur” military pantheon on the occasion of the Independence Day of Artsakh.
“Our return will be possible through international safeguards: dignified, fair and, most importantly, we should feel safe in our homeland. If these criteria are met, we are ready to negotiate to settle these issues as soon as possible,” Shahramanyan added.
Gegham Stepanyan, who was the Human Rights Defender in Artsakh, built up on what Shahramanyan said, emphasizing that the right to return is impossible without the recognition of the right to self-determination or correlation with it.
“At the moment, we declare it a priority, as such, to include the issue of the right to return in the agenda, to discuss all the options in the future, and all the possibilities that may arise over time at the negotiation table. The right to return is simply impossible without the recognition of the right to self-determination or the correlation with it, otherwise we would not have an emptied Artsakh within 5-6 days.”
It is noteworthy that in January 2024, the Committee for the Protection of Fundamental Rights of the People of Artsakh was formed, the leadership of which was assumed by the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia, Vardan Oskanyan.
Oskanyan said in an interview with Artsakh TV the other day that there is a chance to exercise the right to return of Artsakh Armenians.
It should also be added that in the resolution adopted on March 12, 2024, the European Parliament called on Azerbaijan to genuinely engage in a comprehensive and transparent dialogue with the Karabakh Armenians to ensure respect for their rights and guarantee their security, including their right to return to and live in their homes in dignity and safety under international presence.
Thus, when addressing the return to Artsakh, various politicians indicate the priority of placing the issue of the right to return on the agenda of negotiations under international safeguards without pointing out practical steps.
Syuzanna Hambardzumyan
