Nikol Pashinyan failed to fulfill the promises he made in 2018 and eventually recognized Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan
Addressing the Armenian people at a rally in Yerevan on August 17, 2018, Nikol Pashinyan said:
“If the negotiation process leads to an option that I trust and consider acceptable, believe me, I will never sign any paper in secret. I will present everything to you in detail, and you will decide whether we should proceed with that settlement option or not.”
Speaking at a press conference in May 2023, Nikol Pashinyan effectively recognized Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan, stating that the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh is included in Azerbaijan’s 86.6 thousand square kilometers.
It should be noted that Pashinyan’s “awakening” on the issue of recognizing Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan was guided by the European Union. According to www.7or.am,
Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, made a statement during European Parliament debates on the situation caused by Azerbaijan’s blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh. He said that both sides [Armenia and Azerbaijan – editor’s note] had recognized each other’s territorial integrity in clear terms, and it was for the first time – which is probably very significant – that Armenia recognized Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan.
It is the first time that the leader of Armenia, in this case, Pashinyan, said this unequivocally. It was completely unambiguous, Borrel stressed.
In this context, he expressed hope that Baku would grasp the Armenian Prime Minister’s message and respond with a “positive narrative” addressed to the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh, clearly stating that their rights and security would be fully respected.
According to Borrell, this is one of the key messages of the agreement, which should go hand-in-hand with other provisions of the negotiation process.
Later on October 5, 2023, at the summit in Granada (Spain), Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan signed a declaration recognizing Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan.
“The parties remain committed to all efforts aimed at normalizing relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan on the basis of mutual recognition of the sovereignty, inviolability of borders, and territorial integrity of Armenia (29,800 sq km) and Azerbaijan (86,600 sq km), the document says.
Referring to the summit in Granada, Regnum News Agency writes:
The meeting was held with the participation of French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and President of the European Council Charles Michel. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev did not attend the summit in Granada, reportedly due to the absence of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who had not been invited.
Pashinyan had already recognized Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan back in October 2022, when, during a meeting with Aliyev in Prague, he signed the Alma-Ata Declaration of 1991, which identified the region as Azerbaijani territory. On September 19, the Azerbaijani army launched a military operation to bring the unrecognized republic under its control. The following day, a ceasefire agreement was reached with the mediation of Russian peacekeepers.
