As reported earlier, the Armenian government has published documents related to negotiations on the former Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, APA reports.
Among the documents is a letter that Armenia’s third president, Serzh Sargsyan, addressed to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in August 2016.
Sargsyan’s letter to Putin clearly reveals Armenia’s position in the Karabakh conflict and shows that official Baku, represented by President Ilham Aliyev, stood firmly in defense of the country’s interests.
In the letter, the Armenian leadership openly expresses its desire to have the conflict resolved in line with its own interests through Moscow’s mediation.
The letter exposes many points that reveal Armenia’s manipulative negotiation strategy and is filled with statements voiced in a tone of dissatisfaction toward Azerbaijan’s rightful position.
The former president asks the Russian leader to neutralize Azerbaijan in the process and even to pressure Baku.
“Azerbaijan has even abandoned the Madrid Principles that had been under discussion since 2007,” Sargsyan writes.
He claims that the negotiations were supposedly balanced and that Azerbaijan’s position disrupted the process.
One of the quotations reads as follows: “Armenia refused to make amendments to the Kazan document on the condition that Azerbaijan would do the same. Unfortunately, at Kazan, the President of Azerbaijan presented more than 10 amendments to the previously agreed wording. Moreover, Azerbaijan has even renounced the Madrid Principles since 2007.”
In this way, the Armenian side attempts to accuse Azerbaijan of being non-constructive. However, those documents could not be accepted because they contradicted Azerbaijan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. The formula “first the territories, then all other issues” troubled Armenia.
The justified principle put forward by Baku in the letters - namely, the discussion of other issues after the return of the occupied regions - seriously concerned Yerevan.
Thus, the Armenian side presented this as a threat: “Azerbaijan’s ‘first the territories, then all other issues’ formula is extremely dangerous. In this case, Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh would become hostages of the process.”
This quotation shows that Armenia was wary even of a phased withdrawal from the occupied territories: “Baku increased tension and led to large-scale military aggression.”
In the letter, the former president accuses Azerbaijan of fueling the conflict: “Baku deliberately increased tensions, which ultimately led to a large-scale military aggression against Nagorno-Karabakh in April of this year.”
However, the Azerbaijani side repeatedly stated at the time that the tension was caused by Armenia’s provocations.
The letter expresses concern regarding the St. Petersburg summit. Sargsyan writes that he is deeply worried about President Ilham Aliyev’s statement on the summit’s outcome: “This is either a provocation aimed at disrupting the process or an attempt to formalize a maximalist position for the future.”
The issue of returning five districts caused panic in Armenia. In the letter, Sargsyan openly states that even the return of just five districts would destroy their so-called “security zone”: “This would significantly narrow the ‘security zone’ of Nagorno-Karabakh. The transfer of real territories cannot be compensated.”
This is yet another example of Yerevan’s attempt to present 30 years of occupation as “security.”
The letter also contains Armenia’s absurd demands. Sargsyan openly insists that Lachin and Kalbajar must not be returned to Azerbaijan and that Armenia must explicitly retain control over Nagorno-Karabakh’s Azerbaijani territories: “The Kalbajar and Lachin districts must remain under Nagorno-Karabakh’s control.” These demands contradict Armenia’s claims that it was supposedly ready for compromise.
Sargsyan’s letter to Putin also introduces unrealistic conditions regarding a referendum, demanding that it be held solely according to Armenia’s wishes: “The questions put to a vote must allow for choosing any status without restriction.” This was an open challenge to Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity.
Ultimately, the letter reveals the true nature of Armenia’s Karabakh policy.
Sargsyan’s letter to Putin shows that Armenia was not sincere in negotiations, held a maximalist position that contradicted Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, tried to openly use Russia as a pressure tool, sought to maintain occupation under the label of a “security zone,” and attempted to manipulate the outcome of any future referendum in advance.
This letter reaffirms once again that for many years Armenia had no intention of resolving the conflict peacefully, but rather aimed to prolong the occupation-based status quo for as long as possible.
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