Prime Minister: it was Armenian side that was author of draft  principles of territorial integrity of states and right of peoples to  self-determination

ArmInfo.It was Armenian side that was the author of the draft principles of the territorial integrity of states and the right of peoples to self-determination in  the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. On April 12, during  the government hour in the National Assembly of the Republic of  Armenia, answering the question of MP Arsyak Julhakyan, RA Prime  Minister Nikol Pashinyan made such a statement, referring to some  reliable sources.

According to the head of government, in order to answer the question  about Nagorno-Karabakh, it is necessary to return to the concept,  according to which the solution of this problem must be considered in  two planes - before the Madrid principles and after them.

Prior to the Madrid Principles, the position of the Armenian side was  that Nagorno-Karabakh had never been part of independent Azerbaijan,  and in the context of the collapse of the Soviet Union, Artsakh  exercised its right to self-determination, deciding to secede from  the USSR. along with other subjects as an independent subject, which  is recorded in Almaty Declaration. In 2007, when Robert Kocharyan was  the head of state, and Serzh Sargsyan was the prime minister of the  republic, the Madrid principles emerged, which emphasized both the  territorial integrity of states and the right of peoples to  self-determination. At that time, it was pointed out that it was  necessary to clarify the status of Nagorno-Karabakh using certain  mechanisms that should have been agreed with Azerbaijan as well. As a  result, as the Prime Minister noted, there have been very serious  fundamental changes. <Before the Madrid principles, it was about the  Soviet Union, after them - Azerbaijan. This means that  Nagorno-Karabakh must be part of Azerbaijan in order to  self-determine, otherwise, it is not clear from whom it is  self-determined.  It is this content that is our main omission,"  Pashinyan stressed.

Noting that it was Armenia that withdrew Nagorno-Karabakh from the  negotiation process, stating in this context that it "will exercise  the right of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh to self-determination."  <But in this case, the question arises: dear ones, and who are you?  In response, a statement is made that we are the Republic of Armenia,  but the right of peoples to self-determination says that it was  Nagorno-Karabakh that had to negotiate and be at the negotiating  table, because it is about it, and not about Armenia>, stressed the  Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, adding that, by doing so,  the authorities found themselves in a trap, from which they have not  been able to get out since 2018.