News - President: Document to dissolve Nagorno-Karabakh Republic has no legal force

Returning to Artsakh is our right, and it cannot become an obstacle or contradict the national interests of Armenia. Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) President Samvel Shahramanyan stated this in an interview with reporters Monday. "After moving to Armenia, we adopted a policy, and I informed all Artsakh officials about it, according to which the security of Armenia is a priority for us. Armenia is also the main part of our motherland, and we should not put under threat the processes being carried out by Armenia’s authorities, and we should not harm its security system. But we see that on various occasions the issue of dissolution of Artsakh becomes a subject of manipulations. That is a false theory. That document, which we had to sign, made it possible to safely transport the civilian [Armenian] population [of Artsakh] to Armenia. The [Artsakh] armed forces and the officials of the power structures also moved [to Armenia]. Unfortunately, [Armenian] hostages—the military-political leadership [of Artsakh]—were also taken [by Azerbaijan] and handed over to. We knew from the beginning that this document was unconstitutional and illegal. It did not receive legal force, was not officially made public, was not introduced into the legal system, after which the document could be called a ‘normative act.’ We know the opinion of the [Armenian] population [of Artsakh]. It did not want to be integrated into Azerbaijan, under the yoke of Azerbaijan, and decided to leave its homeland. We adopted a decision on the occasion of that document. We have informed the government of Armenia—in the person of the prime minister—about this in writing. Rumors that this document is valid are meaningless and do not correspond to reality," Shahramanyan added. He reminded that in recent decades, Armenia’s authorities participated on behalf of Artsakh in the peace talks. "We believe that the return of the Artsakh matter to the international agenda is the task of Armenia’s authorities. We are ready to discuss this matter with all interested institutions. Armenia’s authorities have given up Artsakh. I think that most of the population of Armenia does not share that opinion. We are convinced that the issue of the return of Artsakh and Artsakh Armenians can be solved through a strong Armenia. The authorities of Armenia should do everything to protect the rights of Artsakh Armenians, including on international platforms. We are ready for negotiations at various formats. The most important [thing] is so that the correct problems and format are worded and presented," said the Artsakh president.