And now the Almaty Declaration?!
Whether Armenia is ready for peace with Azerbaijan is one of the main issues of the current South Caucasus agenda. Official Yerevan declares its readiness for peace on various international platforms, as well as its interest in opening regional communications. For this purpose, he even put forward a project called "Crossroads of Peace".
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who is on a business trip to Tbilisi these days, presented the project to his Georgian counterpart. He noted that the project is aimed at promoting regional relations, respecting the sovereignty and equality of states. In short, they are trying to create an image in Yerevan as if they are interested in peace and we are not. However, the statements of Pashinyan and the team led by him are completely incompatible with the desire for peace.
For more than a year, the name of the Almaty Declaration has not been mentioned by the Prime Minister of Armenia. It should be noted that this document, signed on December 21, 1991, is a declaration on the goals and principles of the Commonwealth of Independent States and its foundations. The declaration confirmed the Belovezhsk Agreement, which stated that the USSR ceased to exist with the creation of the CIS.
Nikol Pashinyan declared that he recognizes the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan based on the Almaty Declaration signed on December 21, 1991 at the quadrilateral meeting held on October 6, 2022 within the framework of the 1st summit of the European Political Union in Prague. Of course, as a country that always wants real peace in the region, Azerbaijan also confirmed its commitment to Armenia's territorial integrity and sovereignty. However, until that time, the Armenian side did not even remember the name of the declaration. Now the Almaty Declaration has become one of the most used words in the political lexicon in Armenia. However, it turns out that Pashinyan took this step to present himself in a peaceful image to the West.
For example, Levon Zurabyan, the representative of the Armenian opposition, the deputy chairman of the Armenian National Congress, the founder and leader of the country's first president, Levon Ter-Petrosyan, who worked as his press secretary and assistant when Ter-Petrosyan was president, said in a press release: "Pashinyan has been talking about the Almaty Declaration for a year. but that document cannot form the basis of a peace agreement. Because the Armenian side ratified that document in the parliament under certain conditions. "According to those conditions, Armenia has never recognized the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan."
After Zurabyan's statement, Pashinyan naturally fell into a bad situation and said angrily: "As far as I know, the Armenian side did not put forward any conditions when the meeting was held in Almaty. If there is such a condition, let the opposition present that condition."
The opposition, in its turn, presented that condition. Thus, Zurabyan said in his statement to the media: "During the ratification, the Supreme Council of Armenia adopted 10 amendments to the document. According to the tenth amendment, not only the former Soviet republics, but also the autonomous entities that held a referendum on independence before the collapse of the USSR should have been allowed to join the CIS. The amendment originally read as follows: "In the second paragraph of Article 13 - the sentence "open to all former allied Soviet republics" should be added, as well as the sentence should be open to the autonomies that held a referendum on the declaration of their independence before the declaration of the end of the existence of the USSR ". Armenia ratified the Almaty Declaration in 1992. There was a very clear reference that "the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic" could join the CIS as an independent republic.
By the way, let's note that in general, the clause on territorial integrity in the Almaty Declaration is of a general nature. In other words, it is not just a question of Armenia and Azerbaijan recognizing each other's territorial integrity. Territorial integrity is expressed in the document as follows: "The Declaration reaffirmed that the existence of the USSR would cease and that the Commonwealth of Independent States, which now includes eleven former Soviet republics, would be established in its place. The CIS is neither a state nor a supranational body, all its participants recognize each other's territorial integrity and respect the inviolability of existing borders.
It is clear from the statements of Levon Zurabyan, the representative of the Armenian opposition, and the general progress of the processes, that since October 2022, Armenian diplomacy has actually been playing games around the Almaty Declaration. Here comes to mind the proverb "a bear has a thousand games in a pear's head". Iravan also played the "peace game" under the name of wanting peace.
It should also be noted that on May 14 and July 15, 2023, the next meeting of the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia was held in Brussels with the mediation of the President of the Council of the European Union Charles Michel. In that contact, the Almaty Declaration was formed. After the meeting, Charles Michel declared that the two countries are committed to the Prague declaration on recognizing each other's territorial integrity. Thus, Armenia recognizes the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan in 86.6 thousand square kilometers, and Azerbaijan in 29.8 thousand square kilometers. Thus, the Almaty Declaration played the role of a base here as well. After that, pro-Armenian Western countries and organizations started a big campaign.
They began to praise Pashinyan, saying that he took a brave step. They said, "Look at how bravely Pashinyan has taken a step. Unlike previous Armenian leaders, he openly declares that he supports the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and is ready to sign a peace treaty based on the Almaty Declaration. We were even criticized. It was said that for some reason, Azerbaijan does not talk about it very enthusiastically, it is very cold-blooded. They urged us that after Pashinyan's statement, Azerbaijan should withdraw some of its demands.
Because Pashinyan has "taken a big, important step". However, time has passed and now it is clear that there are good reasons for Azerbaijan's cold-blooded and restrained approach to this issue. Levon Zurabyan's statement mentioned above is another confirmation of this.
Fikret SADIHOV,
political scientist
- It is not known under what conditions the Almaty Declaration was ratified in the Armenian parliament. You can't even know that. They are talking about some corrections now, that is, after a few years have passed. The point is that if they do not fully accept the Almaty Declaration, the question arises. But what kind of borders are they talking about when they propose to withdraw the army from the border?! Other questions also arise. But now we are talking about the fact that we have freed our lands from occupation and we are dictating the rules of the game. In other words, issues are not resolved by various juggling and putting forward some conditions. Currently, it is about signing a peace agreement. First of all, they must fulfill all the conditions of the tripartite statement signed on November 10, 2020. First of all, the Zangezur corridor should be opened. They prevent it. It seems that they are making various excuses for not signing the peace agreement. In fact, our position on this issue is quite clear. We are interested in ensuring security in the region. Even though we won the war and liberated our land, we still show our generosity. We have put forward our proposals in the direction of peace. It is necessary to accept this and sign a one-time peace agreement
Elkhan SHAHINOGLU,
Head of "Atlas" Research Center, political scientist
- There are many discussions among the political forces of Armenia regarding the Almaty Declaration. Levon Zurabyan is not a serious figure. Even in Armenia, they don't pay much attention to his opinions. That is, he is a representative of a weak institution. In general, the voice of the opposition is not heard in the society. What is important is that Armenia recognizes the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, including Karabakh. It does not matter if it is in accordance with the Almaty Declaration or another document. Armenia should recognize the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. Yerevan has no other alternative. It is on this basis that a peace agreement should be signed.
Pashinyan is not afraid of the opposition anyway. If he wants to take these steps, they will not be able to stop him. The opposition could not overthrow him, he was defeated in the election. More than 3,000 people cannot go to the streets. There are even stronger figures than Levon Zurabyan. For example, there are supporters of Serjik Sargsyan and Robert Kocharyan. Not even they can change the situation, let alone Levon Zurabyan. It is futile for him to create confusion and try to explain the past document differently.
They could not recognize Karabakh as the territory of Azerbaijan during the occupation. But now the realities have changed. In fact, Armenia needs a peace treaty first of all. We can continue our work without a peace treaty. We have already secured our territorial integrity. Whether Armenia recognizes it or not will not change anything. Or the border issue is lingering. Strategic heights are already under our control. Our main demand is that yes, if they want to sign a peace agreement, they should recognize the territorial integrity of our country.
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