ArmInfo. In 2007, when Armenia adopted the "Madrid principles" as the basis for negotiations, which states that the future status of Nagorno-Karabakh should be decided within the framework of future referendums, it thereby delegitimized the referendum held in December 1991. On May 25, Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan stated this from the rostrum of the National Assembly during the government hour.
"When Armenia accepted that this future referendum should be held in conditions of mutual understanding with Azerbaijan, it "cut off the branch" on which we all sat," he said.
The prime minister stressed that by accepting the "Madrid principles", the government, whose representatives are now holding rallies, has granted a veto to Azerbaijan in determining the status of Nagorno-Karabakh. However, according to the Prime Minister, the biggest sensation was the fact that Armenia co-authored the "Madrid Principles".
He recalled that from this rostrum he had already stated that with the adoption of the "Madrid principles", Armenia accepted Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan. <When I became prime minister, I was constantly asked <whether I accept the <Madrid principles>, to which I replied that first we need to understand what they mean. And when at a meeting with the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group I raised the question whether Nagorno-Karabakh could not be part of Azerbaijan, after a short pause they answered "yes", but on the condition that Azerbaijan gives its consent. Thus, it was confirmed that the "Madrid principles" gave the Azerbaijani side a veto on the issue of determining the status of Nagorno-Karabakh," Pashinyan said.
It should be reminded that on December 10, 1991, a nationwide referendum on independence was held in the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. Of the 132,328 eligible to vote, 108,736 people (82.2%) took part in the vote, 108,615 people (99.89% of those who voted) voted for independence (99.89% of those who voted), 24 (0.02%) voted against, 96 ballots were declared invalid. The Azerbaijani population of the NKR refused to participate in the referendum and instead supported the aggression unleashed by the Azerbaijani authorities against Artsakh, taking an active part in it. On the day of the referendum, Stepanakert and other Armenian settlements were shelled, as a result of which 10 civilians were killed and 11 were injured.