ANC Deputy Chairman: By rejecting 2019 OSCE Minsk Group proposal on  Artsakh, Pashinyan challenged not only Azerbaijan but  entire  international community

ArmInfo. By rejecting the 2019 proposal of the OSCE Minsk Group (OSCE MG) Co-Chairs for a final settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has challenged not only Azerbaijan but the entire international community, as well as the OSCE MG Co-Chair countries. 

Levon Zurabyan, deputy chairman of the Armenian National Congress  (ANC) party, made this statement at a press conference in Yerevan  regarding the Armenian government's release of a nearly complete  package of documents on the negotiation process for the settlement of  the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. "Thus, the Armenian Prime Minister  essentially legitimized Azerbaijani aggression against the Artsakh  people in 2020, which ultimately called into question the existence  of the Armenian state," the ANC deputy chairman said.

Zurabyan stated that by publishing historical documents on the  settlement, Pashinyan demonstrated that what happened, including the  2020 war and the loss of Artsakh, are a consequence of his policies.  In this regard, Zurabyan  reminded the specific nature of the 2019  proposal on Artsakh. "This proposal implied a phased settlement of  the conflict. "During the first phase, five districts were to be  transferred to Azerbaijan, with the condition that international  peacekeeping forces would be stationed around the perimeter of  Kelbajar and Lachin (Karvachar and Berdzor in Armenian - ed.), as  well as in five regions," Zurabyan clarified.

Thus, according to the ANC deputy chairman, an internationally  recognized interim status for Artsakh would be ensured. Regarding  security, he noted that, according to this proposal, it would be  ensured through several means, specifically, a commitment by  Azerbaijan not to use force against Artsakh, as well as a statement  that Armenia would be the guarantor of NKR security. "That is, in  essence, Armenia would receive an internationally recognized right to  intervene in the conflict should Azerbaijan violate its obligations.  The OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries and the UN Security Council  were supposed to become security guarantors under this proposal,"  Zurabyan added.

The second phase of the settlement, according to the ANC deputy  chair, included issues whose resolution was to be discussed later.  Specifically, ensuring a corridor for communication between Armenia  and Artsakh and determining the final status of the Nagorno-Karabakh  Republic based on the free will of the Artsakh people.

"Therefore, in the first phase, we confirmed the establishment of  peace, and left the resolution of the remaining issues to future  generations, whereby Karvachar and Berdzor could subsequently be  transferred to Azerbaijan, provided that it recognized the  independence of Artsakh," Zurabyan recalled.

The ANC deputy chairman further stated that it was Pashinyan  who  torpedoed the implementation of the proposal when, instead of  responding diplomatically, he made several statements that provoked  the 2020 war. "Therefore, Pashinyan is responsible for the  consequences of his policies, including the 2020 war, the loss of  Artsakh, clashes on the border with Azerbaijan, the loss of  strategically important points, and the ongoing capitulation," the  ANC deputy chairman emphasized.

Furthermore, Zurabyan pointed out that in 2020, Pashinyan again had  the opportunity to agree to implement this proposal, but did not do  so. In 2020, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev essentially agreed to  a settlement of the Artsakh conflict when, during the October 2020  war, following a meeting with Pashinyan, he stated in an interview  with Russian media that he was being offered "a phased liberation of  the occupied regions in exchange for negotiations to determine the  final status of Nagorno-Karabakh."

In conclusion, the ANC deputy chairman noted that in today's reality,  discussing the return of the Artsakh population to their homeland is  only possible if Azerbaijan's authority in the territory is  restricted, which is impossible without diplomatic pressure. "It  turns out that at the moment we are talking exclusively about war.  Therefore, in the current situation, it seems to me that the   priority is to ensure the life of the Artsakh population in Armenia,  and perhaps in the future the conditions for discussing other options  will arise. I consider anything else adventurous," Zurabyan  concluded.