Marukyan says MFA forgot Granada statement

PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenian oppositionist Edmon Marukyan criticizes the Foreign Ministry for omitting the Granada declaration addressing the displacement of Karabakh Armenians.

In a Facebook post, Marukyan, the leader of the Bright Armenia party, claimed that Armenia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) has overlooked the joint declaration signed in Granada.

“They forgot the statement signed in Granada,” he wrote. “Yesterday I addressed the MFA’s infamous statement, describing it as an attempt to distort reality and once again shift the full blame for Nagorno-Karabakh’s downfall onto others. I want to return to that idea and reveal another crucial layer.”

Marukyan recalled that on September 28, 2023, Samvel Shahramanyan, the president of the unrecognized Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, signed a decree to dissolve all state institutions and terminate the republic’s existence by January 1, 2024.

He emphasized that just days after this decree, on October 5, 2023, during the third summit of the European Political Community, a quadrilateral meeting was held between Nikol Pashinyan, Emmanuel Macron, Olaf Scholz, and Charles Michel.

“As a result of the meeting, a joint statement was adopted, which included the following excerpt: ‘They agreed to provide additional humanitarian support to Armenia, which is facing the consequences of the latest mass displacement of Karabakh Armenians. They emphasized that these refugees should be able to return freely to their homes and places of residence, unconditionally, under international monitoring, and with due respect for their history, culture, and human rights.’”

Marukyan criticized the MFA for seemingly failing to investigate whether Armenia had ever raised the issue of forced displacement or the right of return for Karabakh Armenians after the decree was signed, before trying to justify the claim that the issue was closed based on a legally non-binding decree from an unrecognized entity.

“It’s unfortunate that this disgrace is set to continue…,” he concluded.

The Armenian MFA had earlier stated: “We have repeatedly declared that Armenia was working to ensure the security and rights of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians in negotiations with Azerbaijan, including through efforts to establish international mechanisms to address these concerns. These efforts also included organizing meetings between representatives of Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh in third countries, which were rejected by Nagorno-Karabakh. After the publication of the decree on the forced displacement of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians and the dissolution of Nagorno-Karabakh, the issue has been removed from the Armenia-Azerbaijan interstate normalization agenda.”