Pashinyan aimed to sever ties with Artsakh, MP says

PanARMENIAN.Net - MP Arthur Khachatryan from the Armenia faction claimed in a Facebook post that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan viewed Artsakh as a tool to control Armenia—a "noose" around the country's neck—and made it his goal to cut that cord by detaching Artsakh from Armenia.

He stated: “All of Nikol’s actions were directed toward severing the 'noose,' handing Artsakh over to Azerbaijan. He sabotaged negotiations, first by demanding a change in the format, and then by threatening to revise the principles proposed by the U.S., Russia, and France. In June 2019, he rejected the latest peace proposal. Negotiations stalled. Since 1998, Azerbaijan had always rejected the proposals, but in 2019, Nikol did.”

Following the breakdown of negotiations, Yerevan’s rhetoric intensified—phrases like "Artsakh is Armenia, period" and "new war - new territories" emerged.

Khachatryan recalled the July 2020 clashes in Tavush and the subsequent glorification of them at Sardarapat, claiming Pashinyan should have foreseen the consequences. War followed, leading to defeat, the November 9 agreement, and Armenia’s denial of responsibility over Artsakh. Khachatryan emphasized that no document had mandated the withdrawal of Armenian forces from Artsakh, yet Pashinyan withdrew them demonstratively and failed to act against Artsakh’s blockade. Instead, he offered weak, ineffectual statements.

He further accused Pashinyan of betrayal in October 2022 by unlawfully recognizing Azerbaijan’s sovereignty over Artsakh, repeating this in May 2023. By September 2023, for the first time since 1988, Artsakh stood alone—exhausted and abandoned in the face of Turkish aggression. “The cord was cut. Artsakh was emptied of Armenians and annexed by Azerbaijan,” he wrote.

Khachatryan criticized Pashinyan for shifting blame, saying: “He claimed Artsakh Armenians didn’t negotiate, that Azerbaijan attacked during talks in Yevlakh, that there was a coup in Artsakh… Seriously? Even the so-called coup leader didn’t consider it a coup.”

He denounced ongoing references to a decree allegedly signed by the President of the Republic of Artsakh, asking: “Have you seen the document? No one has. He was forced to sign it to prevent Azerbaijanis from invading peaceful towns and villages, to avoid thousands of casualties. That legally void, preemptive document saved tens of thousands who fled to Armenia.”

Khachatryan concluded that if Pashinyan’s intent had truly been to protect Artsakh, he would have disputed the decree’s legitimacy the moment the last Artsakh citizen crossed the Hakari bridge. “But they didn’t. Because keeping Artsakh was never their goal,” he stated.