Michel said early on Monday that Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev agreed to “advance discussions” on a comprehensive peace treaty between their countries. He said he told them that it is “necessary that the rights and security of the ethnic Armenian population in Karabakh be addressed.”
Arayik Harutiunian, the Karabakh president, on Wednesday described Michel’s remarks are “extremely unacceptable.” He said they are at odds with the “demands and aspirations of the Armenians of Artsakh (Karabakh)” based on their right to self-determination.
Four of the five political groups represented in the Karabakh parliament, including Harutiunian’s party, also denounced Michel in a joint statement released late on Tuesday. They said the European Union’s top official effectively portrayed Karabakh’s population as an ethnic minority not eligible for independent statehood.
Pashinian downplayed Michel’s remark on Wednesday, saying that the EU leader simply chose wording which he thought will satisfy both Armenia and Azerbaijan.
“Just how accurate it was is a subject of different discussion,” the prime minister told the Armenian parliament.
Harutiunian revealed that he met with Pashinian early this week to discuss the results of Sunday’s summit. He said Pashinian assured him that he will not sign any peace deals with Baku without consulting with the Karabakh leadership.
Pashinian caused uproar in Armenia and Karabakh after his previous meeting with Aliyev held in Brussels on April 6. He declared that the international community is pressing Armenia to scale back its demands on Karabakh’s status and recognize Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity.
He signaled Yerevan’s intention to make such concessions, fuelling more opposition allegations that he has agreed to Azerbaijani control over Karabakh. The authorities in Stepanakert also deplored that statement.
Faced with daily anti-government protests in Yerevan, Pashinian and other Armenian officials have said in recent weeks that the question of Karabakh’s status must be on the agenda of planned talks on the Armenian-Azerbaijani peace accord. But they have not publicly clarified whether Yerevan will insist on the principle of self-determination of peoples.