Former Artsakh official slams Armenian foreign policy

PanARMENIAN.Net - Former State Minister of Artsakh Artak Beglaryan has sharply criticized Armenia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, accusing it of reiterating well-known Azerbaijani narratives and undermining the rights of the people of Artsakh.

“Why do you keep repeating the well-known Azerbaijani theses?” Beglaryan asked in a social media post directed at the ministry. “When your genocidal neighbor attacks and seizes more Armenian land, whose pocket will you slip your deadly sins into?”

Responding to what he called a “disgraceful statement” by the Foreign Ministry, Beglaryan posed a series of pointed questions:

• Why does the ministry support efforts to absolve the Aliyev regime of its genocidal actions?
• By recognizing Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan, did it not grant carte blanche to Baku to proceed with genocidal actions while disregarding the vital rights of the Artsakh population?
• Has the ministry ever referenced foundational documents of the Republic of Artsakh during negotiations with Azerbaijan?
• Does an unconstitutional document signed under duress suffice to disregard the rights and security of the people of Artsakh?
• Has the formal signature of such a document led to the total erasure of the people of Artsakh and their needs?
• Why ignore the public clarification by Samvel Shahramanyan, President of the Republic of Artsakh, that the document in question was signed under threat and is unconstitutional?
• Why overlook a subsequent decree, issued by the same institution and sent to the ministry, that nullifies the previous document?
• Were the heavy-handed pressures of late 2023, used to stifle opposition to the unconstitutional decree, part of a broader manipulation strategy?
• Why not admit that the Sofia meeting, planned for June 21, failed primarily due to Azerbaijan’s position and Armenia’s partial complicity, including refusal to agree to international mechanisms and guarantees?
• Why not blame Azerbaijan for sabotaging the August 1 Bratislava talks, which included kidnapping a sick elderly person from a Red Cross vehicle just before negotiations?
• Why conceal that, despite everything, the Artsakh delegation was still prepared to attend the Bratislava meeting, even without guarantees, only for the Aliyev regime to back out last minute?

Beglaryan concluded by warning: “To satisfy your narrow and short-term domestic political needs, how far are you willing to go morally, politically, and legally? When your genocidal neighbor attacks and takes more Armenian land, whose pocket will you slip your deadly sins and criminal mistakes into?”

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had previously stated: “We have repeatedly declared that Armenia, during negotiations with Azerbaijan, was working to ensure the security and rights of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh, including through the creation of international mechanisms. The efforts to organize meetings between representatives of Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan in third countries were aimed at this goal but were rejected by the Nagorno-Karabakh side. Following the announcement of the decree on the dissolution of Nagorno-Karabakh and the forced displacement of its population, the issue is no longer part of the agenda of interstate relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan.”