Pashinian said on Wednesday that the international community is pressing Armenia to “lower a bit the bar on the question of Nagorno-Karabakh’s status” and recognize Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity. He signaled Yerevan’s intention to make such concessions to Baku, fuelling more opposition allegations that he has agreed to Azerbaijani control over Karabakh.
Karabakh’s ethnic Armenian leadership openly deplored that statement which the prime minister reaffirmed on Thursday. In a resolution unanimously approved by its members, the Karabakh parliament demanded that the Armenian authorities “abandon their current disastrous position.”
“Our colleagues probably did not understand well the essence of the prime minister’s speech. I just can’t find any other explanation for that declaration,” said Eduard Aghajanian, a senior member of Pashinian’s Civil Contract party who heads the Armenian parliament committee on foreign relations.
Speaking at a news conference, Aghajanian insisted that Pashinian did not call for the restoration of Azerbaijani control of Karabakh.
Asked what exactly “lowering the bar” on the Armenian-populated territory’s status means, he said: “I think that any solution as a result of which the Armenians of Artsakh would be willing to continue to live in Artsakh should be acceptable to everyone.”
Critics pointed in this regard to a statement made by Vigen Khachatrian, another pro-government lawmaker representing Pashinian’s party, on the parliament floor on Thursday. Praising the prime minister’s discourse, Khachatrian said the notion that “Karabakh has no future as a part of Azerbaijan” is a fallacious one.
The authorities in Stepanakert say Karabakh’s population will never agree to live under Azerbaijani rule.
“Any attempt to incorporate Karabakh into Azerbaijan would lead to bloodshed and the destruction of Artsakh,” Davit Babayan, the Karabakh foreign minister, warned on Thursday.
Pashinian’s statements have also been strongly condemned by the Armenian opposition.
Hayk Mamijanian, a senior member of the opposition Pativ Unem bloc, said on Friday that the ruling political team has no popular “mandate to make Artsakh a part of Azerbaijan.” He argued that Civil Contract pledged to defend the Karabakh Armenians’ right to self-determination in its 2021 election manifesto.
“Vigen Khachatrian and the Civil Contract junta deceived our public and keep doing that,” charged Mamijanian.