Yerevan /Mediamax/. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan has addressed the nation today. Mediamax presents his most important remarks.

Azerbaijan’s stance in negotiations

The Prime Minister has said that the negotiation process had reached a point “where Azerbaijan set a condition for us to renounce our rights.” According to Pashinyan, the Armenian side was expected to hand over 7 out of 5 regions and indicate specific dates for the surrender of the remaining two, and Artsakh would be allowed to claim an autonomous status within Azerbaijan. Pashinyan has noted that in fact this was not a “territories for status” but a “territories for peace” resolution, as Azerbaijan threatened war if rejected.

“We received this as a legacy, or rather, the final stage of the talks,” Pashinyan said, noting that his government refused to fulfill the mentioned conditions.

The July clashes in Tavush and the change of Turkey’s stance

The Prime Minister has said that the victorious battles of Tavush in July 2020 proved that the Azerbaijani armed forces were incapable of resolving the issue by military means, and “this had a shocking effect not only on Azerbaijan but also on Turkey.”

Nikol Pashinyan has reminded that immediately after the incidents, Turkey and Azerbaijan held an unprecedentedly large-scale joint military exercise, “during which Turkey became once again convinced that the Azerbaijani army was unable to solve the problem and decided that it should engage a large number of terrorists.”

The mechanisms of strategic restraint failed

Nikol Pashinyan has stated that when the trilateral alliance of Azerbaijan, Turkey and international terrorists started a war, Armenia tried to turn to the mechanisms of strategic restraint and point out that the problem concerned not only Artsakh and the world should expect a chain reaction. However, the Armenian Prime Minister said, “those who had strategic restraint mechanisms strangely did not give the threat a proper assessment and continued to view the issue only in the context of the Karabakh settlement.”

Nikol Pashinyan has drawn a parallel with the Munich Agreement of 1938, when Czechoslovakia was ceded to Hitler, and added that “we all know what happened next.”

The process of war

The Prime Minister has stated that during the first week of war, the alliance of Azerbaijan, Turkey and terrorists did not succeed despite the involvement of unprecedented amount of personnel and equipment.

Nikol Pashinyan has pointed out that Azerbaijan did not adhere for a moment to humanitarian ceasefire agreed in Moscow on October 10. Now too Azerbaijan continues active combat and hinders the discussion and implementation of monitoring mechanisms, said Pashinyan.

The Prime Minister has observed that in recent days Azerbaijan has adopted a new tactic and is trying to infiltrate Artsakh with subversive groups and cause chaos.

“The situation is difficult, but I do not say this out of despair or hopelessness. I say this because I have an obligation to tell you the truth,” said Nikol Pashinyan.

Russia

The Prime Minister has thanked the United States and France for their mediation efforts and especially emphasized the role of French President Emmanuel Macron, “who from the first days of the war was determined to call a spade a spade.”

"I especially thank Russian President Vladimir Putin, with whom we have maintained intensive dialogue. Russia was able to fulfill the role of the co-chair and a strategic ally of Armenia at a high level and I am sure it will continue to play that role unequivocally, in accordance with the best traditions of friendship between our peoples,” Nikol Pashinyan said.

The victory

“We will not back down. We cannot be broken. We cannot be defeated. Today we have one task - concentrate and unite all our potential toward the final solution of the Artsakh problem. We must turn our grief into anger. Today we are building our new history, our new epic,” said Nikol Pashinyan.