By Mane Berikyan
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan held a press conference on Tuesday. This is CivilNet’s breakdown of the most important points.
HUMANITARIAN AID VIA AGHDAM
Pashinyan said he does not have a “mandate” to discuss Azerbaijan’s offer to supply humanitarian aid to Nagorno-Karabakh through the Azerbaijani border town of Aghdam, in response to a question about his meeting earlier this month with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and European Council President Charles Michel in Brussels.
When prompted further, Pashinyan clarified that the issue had been raised during the tripartite meeting, but he refused to discuss it because he does not have the “need nor the mandate” to decide on such issues.
“In these platforms, we only discuss issues related to the illegal blocking of the Lachin corridor,” Pashinyan added, saying the Nov. 9, 2020 ceasefire he signed mandates this.
Azerbaijan has been blocking the Lachin corridor, the only overland route connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia and the rest of the world, for more than seven months. Although the Red Cross was previously allowed to deliver limited humanitarian supplies into the region, over the last month Azerbaijan has severely escalated the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh by blocking the entry of all humanitarian aid through the Lachin corridor.
Meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Cross said today it is currently unable to bring aid to Nagorno-Karabakh from Azerbaijan via the town of Aghdam, even though Baku says it stands ready to do so.
“Despite persistent efforts, the ICRC is not currently able to bring humanitarian assistance to the civilian population [of Nagorno-Karabakh] through the Lachin corridor or through any other routes, including Aghdam,” the Red Cross said in a statement, calling on “the relevant decision makers” to allow the resumption of its work.
This comes despite European Council President Charles Michel’s readout after the Brussels meeting this month, where he noted Azerbaijan’s “willingness to provide humanitarian supplies via Aghdam.”
Before that summit, Azerbaijan’s foreign minister had told the Red Cross his country stands ready to send “essential goods” to Nagorno-Karabakh through Aghdam, which Yerevan ceded to Baku after the 2020 war.
ARMENIA CANNOT PROTECT KARABAKH’S POPULATION
Pashinyan said that Armenia cannot “determine the fate of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh,” stressing instead that authorities in Stepanakert should engage in direct talks with Baku “within the framework of an international mechanism” to ensure the civilian population’s rights and security.
Pashinyan has signaled in the past that Armenia will recognize Azerbaijan’s sovereignty over Nagorno-Karabakh in the context of ongoing negotiations between the two countries, a move decried by authorities in Stepanakert and the Armenian opposition.
“I am the prime minister of 29,800 square kilometers,” added Pashinyan, referring to Armenia’s internationally recognized area.
In response to a journalist’s question, Pashinyan said the government has not discussed any potential relocation of Nagorno-Karabakh’s population into Armenia and is “only discussing the issue of creating opportunities for Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians to live in their own homes, in their birthplace.”
Moreover, in reference to a statement this month by Russia’s Foreign Ministry, which said “not to burden third countries with the responsibility for the fate of Karabakh’s Armenian population,” Pashinyan stressed the need for Yerevan and Stepanakert to take responsibility in the negotiations process and decrease their dependence on Russia.
