Speaking in the Armenian parliament earlier this week, Pashinian again claimed that the so-called Madrid Principles jointly drafted by the United States, Russia and France essentially recognized Karabakh as a part of Azerbaijan.
Opposition leaders and other critics brushed aside his claims, saying that Pashinian is simply trying to justify his readiness to agree to the restoration Azerbaijani control over Karabakh.
They argue that the framework peace accord, originally put forward in 2007 and repeatedly modified in the following decade, on the contrary upheld the Karabakh Armenians’ right to self-determination. The latter would be able to determine the dispute region’s internationally recognized status in a future referendum.
Oskanian, who served as Armenia’s foreign minister from 1998-2008, made the same point in a 30-minute video message posted on Facebook late on Wednesday. He portrayed the Madrid Principles as a key diplomatic achievement of the Armenian side squandered and renounced by Pashinian.
Oskanian insisted that the U.S., Russian and French mediators “effectively recognized that Karabakh is not a part of Azerbaijan and that the people of Karabakh must decide their future through a referendum.”
“I really don’t understand Nikol Pashinian’s logic here,” he said. “Maybe Nikol Pashinian should be asked to explain the logic behind his desire to sign a peace treaty with Azerbaijan based on mutual recognition of the two countries’ territorial integrity.”
Pashinian likewise alleged last October that the peace plans largely accepted by former Presidents Robert Kocharian and Serzh Sarkisian called for Armenia’s “capitulation” to Azerbaijan. The Russian Foreign Ministry bluntly denied similar claims made by him in 2021.
