Armenia`s premier invites ex-presidents to debate over Artsakh

ArmInfo.  Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan called on former Armenian presidents, who had previously rejected his offer to participate in a debate on the  Karabakh negotiation process, to think again and take advantage of  this opportunity. He made a repeated invitation in a video posted on  his Facebook account. 

"In fact, this is the moment of truth, because the debate I proposed  to the Armenian presidents should be of paramount importance for the  people to make a final and unambiguous conclusion about what  ultimately happened throughout the history of the Third Republic: who  is guilty, of what, and who is guilty of what.

This is an exceptional opportunity for people who are the primary  source of information to meet face to face and complete a remote and  long-distance debate. Moreover, this is not just a conversation about  the past, but a key event for determining future strategies,  orientation in future strategies. We need to make final conclusions  and understand what happened and why," Pashinyan said.

According to him, the issue is not only in debating, but also in  interpreting their own history to their people, giving them the  opportunity to understand it or depriving them of this opportunity.

"True, former presidents have directly or indirectly rushed to  abandon the debate, but I urge them to think about it again, because  conclusions will ultimately be made. I cannot allow a conversation  that has lasted for about 4 years to remain unfinished. I am  determined, and I will go to the end. In what format - that is  another question. I choose the honest path," he Prime Minister noted,  calling for his proposal to be accepted, otherwise, "the conclusions  will remain with the people, and they will help in this matter."

Nikol Pashinyan stated the day before that since 1994, that is, after  the ceasefire, the negotiation process was conducted exclusively  around the return of Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijan. "Narratives  about other content were introduced in the Republic of Armenia  exclusively to solve domestic political problems. In this context, I  made a big mistake - in 2018, when I was getting acquainted with the  content of the negotiations, I did not admit to myself the above (my  patriotism of the model known to you did not allow me to do this)  and, therefore, I did not explain all this to the people," Pashinyan  wrote in a social media post. These statements by the Armenian Prime  Minister were harshly reacted to in the offices of the Presidents of  the Republic of Armenia, where the negotiation process was taking  place. In response to the criticism, Pashinyan invited the Presidents  to a public debate on this issue.

In response to this, the office of the first president of Armenia  Levon Ter-Petrosyan, represented by the press secretary of the first  president Arman Musaelyan, noted, not without irony, that it would be  extremely useful for the Armenian state and society for Nikol  Pashinyan to first hold debates with Nikol Pashinyan himself. Bagrat  Mikoyan, the chief of staff of the second president of Armenia Robert  Kocharyan, noted that a controversial topic is needed for debates.  "And the fact that the surrender of the sovereign territories of  Artsakh and Armenia is the personal of the current prime  minister is an indisputable historical fact and obvious to all  adequate people," he continued, recalling that in 2018-2024, all  power in Armenia belonged to one person who decided to negotiate from  his own - "zero point," and this person bears full responsibility for  all events.

And the office of the third president of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan noted  that it is pointless to argue about the obvious, especially since the  entire history of the negotiation process for the settlement of the  Nagorno- Karabakh conflict has been publicly and in detail a thousand  times, both before and after the seizure of power. "Especially since  the ruler of Armenia has done everything to fail the negotiation  process. If he really wants to hold debates, we recommend that he  hold them with the presidents of the co-chair countries (MG OSCE -  Ed.): Russia, the USA and France, which in the period from 2009 to  2013 five times declared the format of the negotiations and the  principles on which the Nagorno-Karabakh issue was to be resolved,"  the office of the third president of the Republic noted.