“The decree of Samvel Shahramanyan on the dissolution of the self-proclaimed Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh came into force since January 1, 2024,” Russian state media wrote on the night of December 31. The haste of such a record suggests that important plans are connected with this decree in Moscow.
The fact that Samvel Shahramanyan’s decree was written in Russian, using the terminology characteristic of Russian military diplomacy, evidences that the document is an important milestone written in the ministries of foreign affairs and defense of the Russian Federation. After signing the decree, Moscow, through Putin’s press secretary, stated that “there is no immediate direct reason” for Armenians to leave Nagorno-Karabakh and “it will hardly be possible to talk about who is to blame.” “However, people express their desire to leave the territory of Karabakh. Some of them, perhaps, express a desire to do it forever, some temporarily,” added Peskov. Since no one is guilty and no one condemned Azerbaijan for the deportation of 120 thousand people, not even Armenia, it means that the Artsakh citizens are guilty themselves, and htheye should not expect legal or political support from anyone.
At the same time, no party has declared that the Trilateral Statement of November 9, 2020 has lost its force due to the aggression against Artsakh and the deportation of the indigenous majority.
The Armenian government did not react in any way to the entry into force of Shahramanyan’s decree and did not clarify what will happen to the Trilteral Statement of November 9, 2020. In pro-government Armenian channels, fierce propaganda continues “about the inadmissibility of the existence of Artsakh state and other bodies in Armenia” under the pretext that this may undermine Armenia’s security. In his New Year’s address, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan confirmed this thesis, apologized to the people of Karabakh, but at the same time said that he did everything based on the sovereign interests of the Republic of Armenia.
Thus, it is confirmed at the highest level that the Republic of Artsakh became the first but not the last victim in the way of preserving Armenian statehood and the natives of Artsakh lost everything: their homeland, rights, home, property, for the sake of the preservation of Armenia, which does not recognize them as citizens. After all, even their RA passports were not recognized as legal.
“The issue of Artsakh is closed. It has been closed since 1991, when external forces initiated the Karabakh movement to prevent the establishment of the Republic of Armenia, which initially had no chance of success.” this is the main leitmotif of the statements and silence of the ruling party of Armenia. This policy suggests that in the future the Prime Minister may apologize to the residents of other regions of Armenia, who may also be sacrificed for the sake of Armenia’s sovereignty.
After Shahramanyan’s decree of September 28 and the complete emigration of Armenians from Artsakh, a legal vacuum was created, which the RA government is trying to cover with financial support and humanitarian programs.
Baku media write that in January, Aliyev may demand that the NK representative’s office be closed in Yerevan, which is the last anchor of Artsakh’s subjectivity.
Naira Hayrumyan