Ashotyan: Another anti-state deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan is  being concluded behind the back of the Armenian people

ArmInfo. Another anti-Armenian, anti-state deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan is being concluded behind the back of the Armenian people. Deputy Chairman of the  Republican Party of Armenia Armen Ashotyan stated this on May 7  during a live broadcast on his Facebook page, reacting to the  statements of  Secretary of the Security Council of the Republic of  Armenia Armen Grigoryan on the negotiation process on the  Nagorno-Karabakh settlement.

Thus, responding to Grigoryan's statements that not only Azerbaijan  put forward 5 proposals for the normalization of Armenian-Azerbaijani  relations, but Armenia also proposed six proposals in response, which  were accepted by the Azerbaijani side, Ashotyan noted that the key  circumstance is the fact that the Security Council Secretary did not  publish Yerevan's proposals.

"It is necessary to record a very important circumstance, this  "flock" on behalf of the Republic of Armenia made six proposals to  resolve the Karabakh conflict and normalize Armenian-Azerbaijani  relations, which the Armenian society does not know about. These  proposals are hidden from Nikol (RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan -  ed. note), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Security Council of  the Republic of Armenia," Ashotyan noted, adding that another  anti-Armenian, anti-state deal is being concluded behind the back of  the Armenian people.

At the same time, the politician added, if this is not the case, why  are they hiding it from the Armenian people?

"Moreover, Grigoryan assured that these proposals were accepted by  Azerbaijan and the international community. This is also a lie, since  not a single international organization, not a single foreign person  has confirmed that they received such proposals and they are  acceptable to the international community. The same applies to  Azerbaijan. Both the international community and Azerbaijan refer  exclusively to Azerbaijani proposals," RPA deputy chairman noted.

Referring to Grigoryan's statements that the opposition in Armenia is  so incompetent that it is still discussing what kind of negotiations  on the settlement of the Karabakh conflict were conducted by the  third President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan - substantive or package,  Ashotyan recalled that the previous authorities had a consensus on  the issue of a package settlement of the problem with the  international community. In this vein, he recalled that it was Nikol  Pashinyan who returned discussions on a package or phased settlement  of the Karabakh conflict to the domestic political field.

At the same time, the Deputy Chairman of the RPA stressed that Serzh  Sargsyan has all the documents regarding the negotiation process in  his hands, and he can prove every word with concrete facts. He also  called on the authorities to publish these documents if they want to  prove who is right and who is wrong, as well as who and what legacy  left.

" Serzh Sargsyan's government was negotiating over a negotiation  package, where the people of Artsakh had the right to  self-determination. Moreover, the essence of this self-determination  was revealed in the documents, that is, the people of Artsakh were  not bound by the referendum, and its result was legally binding," he  said.

Ashotyan recalled that the transfer of regions to Azerbaijan on the  basis of the 5 + 2 principle gave Artsakh the opportunity for  self-determination, which Pashinyan personally stated in Kapan in the  winter of 2020. This was also touched upon by the OSCE Minsk Group  Co-Chairs and the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev.

Ashotyan also accused the Armenian authorities of lowering the bar  for resolving the Karabakh conflict in the international arena and  surrendering Artsakh.

Earlier, in an interview with Factor TV, Secretary of the Security  Council Armen Grigoryan, referring to proposals for the normalization  of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations, noted that the five points  proposed by Azerbaijan do not affect the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh,  the security and protection of the rights of our compatriots living  there.

"The main part of our response was about this, we voiced our  proposals, proposed to combine the package of proposals of Azerbaijan  and Armenia as a whole, to start peace negotiations. As I mentioned  yesterday, both the international community and Baku are aware that  our two packages must be combined in order to start peace talks," he  said.

When asked whether the proposals of Armenia include the issue of  self-determination of Artsakh, Armen Grigoryan answered that there is  an issue of security, an issue of status in terms of  self-determination. " To solve this problem, we should provide an  opportunity. But we also note that it is rights and security that  will determine the status. And in this regard, we expect more  intensive discussions to understand both the protection of  institutional rights and security," he said.

When asked whether the version when in case of providing security  guarantees and the rights of the people of Artsakh, the latter will  become part of Azerbaijan is acceptable for the Armenian authorities,  Armen Grigoryan replied that in the case of such guarantees, they  should discuss how they will act and receive assurances that these  guarantees ensure the security and rights of the Armenians living in  Artsakh.

"We recognized the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan back in 1992.  We have repeatedly said publicly that Armenia has no territorial  claims against Azerbaijan. Armenia is concerned that the security and  rights of the Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh are not protected.  And by and large the process that has been going on for the last  thirty years was to get such guarantees. It is difficult to answer  questions completely now, but we need to see these guarantees to be  sure, because security is a matter where clear guarantees are needed.  This security must be ensured not only verbally or technically, but  also at the institutional level. When we receive these guarantees, we  will discuss all the other issues.  The priority is a mechanism, if  we have clear ideas and discussions on this mechanism, then we will  be able to discuss other issues," he said.

Answering the question whether it is possible that the signing of a  peace agreement by Armenia and Azerbaijan will bring the Artsakh  issue beyond the borders of these two states and transfer it to  another platform, in particular, he said:  "I think that by and large  there should be no problems here. As for moving forward, we have  always been in touch with Stepanakert and will keep in touch.  Stepanakert has always been informed, and will continue to be  informed, and moving forward we will always take into account the  Stepanakert's opinion. When the Armenian authorities inform the  authorities of Artsakh about the content of the negotiations with  Azerbaijan, they are deeply convinced that what they are doing is in  the interests of our compatriots in Artsakh. By sharing this  information with Artsakh, we are trying to create unity so that we  can move forward".

To the question, what would the Armenian authorities do if there were  any disagreements with Artsakh, Armen Grigoryan replied that while  everything was agreed with Artsakh, effective work had been done.  "There is no talk about the withdrawal of peacekeepers from Artsakh".  Secretary of the Security Council Armen Grigoryan in an interview  with Factor TV said.

To the remark that in the tripartite statement with the President of  the European Council of Europe there was no mention of peacekeepers,  and whether the solution of the Artsakh problem implies the  withdrawal of peacekeepers, Grigoryan noted: "Why such a question  should arise. At the moment it is not clear in which direction we  will resolve the issue. When we talk about the international presence  in terms of security, we mean the presence of peacekeepers there,  which will create guarantees."

To the question whether the West is setting the task for the Russian  peacekeepers to leave Artsakh, Armen Grigoryan replied: "We have not  discussed such an issue."

When asked why Sargsyan does not publish information about the  negotiation process, Grigoryan noted that the third president of the  Republic of Armenia has the entire package of negotiations. "Maybe he  will publish it to show whether he really negotiated the independence  of Nagorno-Karabakh in 2016. There is no such thing in the  documents," said Grigoryan.