Golos Armenii: How Artsakh Fell

On April 23, 2025, Golos Armenii newspaper published an article by Ruben Margaryan titled “How Artsakh Fell”, in which he writes:

“The entire ruling team is promoting the claim that in late August–early September 2023, a coup d’état took place in Artsakh and that power was transferred to the ARF-Dashnaktsutyun. This is a lie, immediately refuted by those directly involved in the events. Arayik Harutyunyan had intended to resign long before and, despite resistance from the people of Artsakh, he eventually did so. Samvel Shahramanyan, a non-partisan figure, was elected president. It was the final attempt to save Artsakh. Stepanakert was preparing for negotiations with Baku’s representatives in Yevlakh, but Aliyev acted proactively.”

“The Armenian Foreign Ministry, led by Ararat Mirzoyan, claims that Artsakh did not support its initiatives and refused to engage in dialogue with Baku in Sofia and Bratislava. In reality, Stepanakert did not refuse any such contacts - air tickets had even been booked. These ‘efforts’ by the Armenian Foreign Ministry were doomed to fail: Baku had no intention of attending such meetings.”

“It remains a serious question whether these initiatives from Yerevan were in Artsakh’s interests or, in fact, to its detriment. Let us not forget that by then, Russia and the West were already in their second year of confrontation over Ukraine. In such circumstances, despite the presence of Russian peacekeepers in Artsakh, Yerevan, acting behind Moscow’s back, attempted to organize direct talks between Artsakh and Azerbaijani representatives with American mediation, and in Western capitals.”

The Tribunal echoes Ruben Margaryan’s conclusion:

“Why did Artsakh fall? Because by that time, Armenia had been ruled for six consecutive years by a group of loudmouthed liars and political amateurs. There was simply no alternative.”