Editor’s note: The following is a translated and republished statement from ARFD.am. Translation from Armenian by our team; minor edits for clarity. Headline retained from the original.
What does it mean to approve a document that contains not a single clause limiting Azerbaijan’s demands, actions, or statements?
On August 8, after the agreement with Azerbaijan was initialed, the ruling force rushed to declare that peace had already become a reality.
We have repeatedly and with justification shown that, under this agreement:
- Azerbaijan has not recognized the territory of the Republic of Armenia with clear borders;
- Azerbaijan’s new demands on Armenia are in no way restrained;
- By failing to enshrine the right of return for the Armenians of Artsakh, Baku has not abandoned plans to resettle Azerbaijanis in Armenia.
Immediately after the initialing, Aliyev called the road through Syunik a “corridor,” labeled Armenian society “sick,” and today speaks openly about new territorial claims against Armenia.
At the same time, Armenia’s authorities not only fail to respond but, through their actions, effectively strengthen Aliyev’s position by:
- branding those who tell the truth to society as “revanchists,”
- declaring that there are Azerbaijani territories under Armenia’s control,
- accelerating the process of amending the Constitution,
- reducing funding for the armed forces and the length of military service.
Thus, it took very little time for Pashinyan and Aliyev to burst with their own hands the large balloon they had been inflating together for months to convince the people that peace had been established.
Aliyev’s statement today has become the most concrete proof of the truth of the opposition’s warnings.
As for the states that welcomed the August 8 agreement, we expect all of them to immediately and publicly condemn Ilham Aliyev’s territorial claims against Armenia. Otherwise, your greetings amount not to welcoming peace, but to welcoming preparations for new aggression against Armenia.
Peace is possible only when there is a dignified state that is not afraid to defend its land and its citizens.
— Ishkhan Saghatelyan, Representative of the ARF Supreme Body of Armenia; Member of the National Assembly (Hayastan faction)
