Author: Alex Nanijanian

From left, the Human Rights Defenders of Artsakh and Armenia Gegham Stepanyan and Arman Tatoyan

Following claims by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who on Friday minimized Artsakh’s right to self-determination, the Human Rights Defenders of Armenia and Artsakh issued a joint statement delivering a terse rebuke to Armenia’s leader.

The assessments that the Prime Minister of Armenia made during his recent press conference are extremely dangerous for the vital rights of the Armenians of Artsakh and obstruct protection from the policy of genocide of Azerbaijan, said the Arman Tatoyan and Gegham Stepanyan, the Human Rights Defenders of Armenia and Artsakh.

“The approaches voiced at the press conference of the Prime Minister of Armenia on Dec. 24 completely contradict the basic rights of the Armenians of Artsakh to security and create fertile ground for Azerbaijani violations. These approaches fundamentally jeopardize the inherent right to national self-determination,” said the join statement.

“Prime Minister of Armenia has overlooked the consistent discriminatory policy of persecution against the Armenian people, the atrocities, the deprivation of property by Azerbaijan in 1923 and other illegal acts for the eviction of Armenians from the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO).”

“In 2020, the Azerbaijani state policy of hatred and enmity toward Armenia, during the war, led to massive ethnic cleansing in Artsakh, destruction of cities and villages (Stepanakert, Martuni, Shushi, Hadrut, etc.), depriving people of their homes, torture and atrocities, murder, desecration and destruction of churches,” the Human Rights Defenders pointed out.

“After the war, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces, under the auspices of the Azerbaijani authorities, continue to violate the vital rights of the people of Artsakh and kill civilians,” said Tatoyan and Stepanyan.

“We consider the assessments of the Prime Minister of Armenia extremely dangerous. They substantiate the supremacy of political issues over human rights, reinforce Azerbaijan’s false theses that ignore human rights. We urge everyone to stop ignoring human rights, creating fertile ground for false Azerbaijani claims, to exclude the subordination of human rights to political issues, as well as to refrain from creating artificial obstacles to protect the rights of our compatriots, especially in international instances,” said the Human Rights Defenders.

The Armenia-Turkey border

Yerevan will hold more discussion to normalize relations between Armenia and Turkey, however, if there are opportunities to discuss the Ankara-proposed “3+3” scheme, Armenia will use that opportunity to have contacts with its Turkish counterpart.

Armenia’s Security Council Chief Armen Grigoryan said in an interview with Armenia’s Public Television on Wednesday that participating in “3+3” talks will enable Yerevan to clarify positions with Ankara and make the process more “accessible.”

Asked if this means that Armenia’s representatives will go to Ankara since Turkey’s foreign minister announced that the next meeting will be held in Turkey and then in Baku and the representatives of Turkey and Azerbaijan will visit Armenia, Grigoryan responded, “If there is an opportunity, we are ready to go, and we are also ready to host the representatives of those countries to organize discussions on our regional issues.”

The proposal made by Ankara after last year’s war, and wholeheartedly backed by Baku, envisions creating a regional bloc with Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, Russia and Iran. Georgia has officially refused to take part in the process.

Grigoryan said in the interview that an agenda has not been set for Armenia-Turkey normalization process, however, both Ankara and Yerevan believe that “it is mainly about sitting around a table, understanding position of the sides and understanding how to normalize the relations.”

“We see that there are such opportunities in the region, for instance, the possible opening of the Kars-Gyumri railway which will create big opportunities for Armenia and Turkey and will help make Armenia and Turkey economically dependent,” Grigoryan stated.

Asked why is it that the Turkish side constantly says what has to happen and Armenia does whatever the Turkish side says, Grigoryan noted the following: “The Turkish side isn’t saying what has to happen. It makes public statements, and we respond to almost all of them. Currently, we believe the important thing is to sit at the table and discuss the issues. We have yet to sit at the table and understand what Turkey is referring to and what Armenia is referring to.”

Armenia and Turkey have appointed special envoys to lead the talks. Turkey has appointed Armenian Genocide denier and former ambassador to the United States Serder Kilic, while Yerevan has named Ruben Rubinyan, a deputy parliament speaker of Armenia.

Turkey and Armenia will mutually appoint special envoys to discuss steps to normalize ties, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu announced Monday.

The two countries will also restart charter flights between Istanbul and Yerevan, Çavuşoğlu said at his ministry's budget discussions in the Parliament.

Armenia and Turkey signed a landmark peace accord in 2009 to restore ties and open their shared border after decades, but the deal was never ratified and ties have remained tense.

During the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict last year, Ankara supported Azerbaijan and accused Yerevan of occupying Azeri territories.

Çavuşoğlu said Turkey would coordinate steps to normalize ties between Armenia and Azerbaijan.