Yesterday, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, addressing the new parliament, made an attempt of a verbal overthrow of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, reversing black and white, right and wrong. speaking before the parliament, which did not have a single non-supporter of the occupation of the Azerbaijani territories,he presented a "new vision" of the conflict that crosses out all previous 23 years of the OSCE Minsk Group's work.
Yerevan's "new vision" of the Karabakh conflict is based on the assertion that the only point on the table of peace talks is the recognition of the separatist regime in the occupied territories as an independent state through the right to self-determination of "the people of Karabakh," that is, the Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh and which are represented as separate nationality. According to Sargsyan, it will be a compromise between the parties to the conflict.
"Armenia has repeatedly spoken for resolving the conflict on the basis of mutual compromises, the essence of which is the recognition and implementation of the right of Karabakh to self-determination. Yes, on the basis of compromises, not one-sided concessions,driven by Azerbaijan's threats to start a war. We do not wish to preserve the status quo a day longer. we do not wish to place the burden of the resolution of this problem on the shoulders of the next generations. And this is the purpose of our our joint efforts with the co-chairing countries," Serzh Sargsyan managed to lie several times in one paragraph.
The plan of the outgoing Armenian president is simple: to shift all the charges against Yerevan to Baku. Recently, he has been blamed for trying to preserve the status quo in the zone of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict too often, which means that it is necessary to present the situation in such a way that the preservation of the status quo is the desire of Azerbaijan. "The Karabakh issue has not been resolved because of Azerbaijan, which has been disrupting the negotiation process.
The president decided to explain it by the distortion of facts and unverifiable disinformation, rejecting in his speech the classic Madrid principles of 2007 and referring to the 'Kazan formula' as the basis for the talks. The 'Kazan formula' was a revision of the Madrid principles and contains the same points: de-occupation of the Azerbaijani territories, the return of refugees, the introduction of peacekeepers to the conflict zone, a plebiscite with the participation of all residents of Karabakh. The document was never adopted or officially published, and Serzh Sargsyan decided to use it, inventing its content.
"For the first time in the process of conflict resolution, it was recorded that the final decision on the legal status of Nagorno Karabakh by the free will of the people of Karabakh will be legally binding. The working documents also state that the representatives of Karabakh will have a decisive voice in resolving the conflict. The scheme for a political settlement of the Karabakh conflict is clear, and the Azerbaijani president publicly admitted that the mediators are imposing on him a decision on the recognition of the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh," the President "disclosed" the allegedly existing information.
"The only right way is to fight for the Karabakh people's right to self-determination. There is no alternative to realizing the right to self-determination of Karabakh and guaranteeing the security of its people. This position is clearly manifested in the negotiation process. For the first time the right of Karabakh to self-determination, the definition of binding legal force and the ground connection between Karabakh and Armenia are set out in several joint statements by the presidents of the co-chairing countries," the President Sargsyan concluded his deceitful statement in the Armenian parliament.
The Madrid principles and the Kazan formula really presuppose both the right of the residents of Karabakh (including those expelled) to self-determination during the plebiscite, and the binding legal force and the corridor between Armenia and Karabakh – but they do not put it at the center of the corner.
The first point at all negotiations is always the deoccupation of the territories and the return of refugees to their native lands. Sargsyan offers to present a peaceful settlement as a struggle of the Karabakh Armenians for their self-determination. Sargsyan invites Armenia to forget about the principle of territorial integrity specified in the Helsinki Final Act, and believe in the reality of a unilateral "compromise", which was set in an unpublished document.
How can one explain such a radical lie of the Armenian president before the parliament? According to political consultant, candidate of historical sciences Oleg Kuznetsov, it is a political program, with which Armenia as a parliamentary republic will act at the talks on Karabakh.
"If in the presidential republic Serzh Sargsyan had a personified responsibility for any actions of the state, then in the parliamentary republic this responsibility is divided among all the deputies of the Armenian National Assembly. Sargsyan organized himself the opportunity to shift responsibility to others and he will use it," Oleg Kuznetsov explained.
In his estimation, it is explained by Armenia's new ideology. "It was most clearly manifested in the installation of a monument to Garegin Nzhdeh at the central square of Yerevan near the buildings of the government of the Republic of Armenia. This actions indicate that Armenia has never intended to abandon the regime of occupation of the Azerbaijani territories. Previously, some verbal camouflage was used, but such a need has disappeared, and the irreconcilable position has finally been exposed," the political consultant concluded.
Will Serzh Sargsyan be able to deceive Azerbaijan and international mediators with this speech? Only time will tell.