In an interview with the Armenian newspaper “Joghovourt” (Ժողովուրդ) General Norat Ter-Krikoryantz, Chief of Staff of the Armenian Ministry of Defense from 1992 to 1995, hero of Artsakh, says the cease- fire signed in May 1994 with Azerbaijan was a mistake from the Armenian side. “Those who attended the talks have made a significant error. You should not sign a cease-fire, the victors of the war have never signed such an agreement. We had to sign a capitulation of Azerbaijan document and the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh with its borders,
“said Norat Ter-Krikoryantz. For the agreement to stop fighting for the “four-day war” in April to Nagorno-Karabakh, Norat Ter-Krikoryantz says this is the OSCE forced the Armenian forces to sign this agreement. According Norat Ter-Kerikoryantz, instead of signing the agreement, it was necessary to compel Azerbaijan to meet its obligations signed in 1994.
While a signature for Baku means no commitment. The April agreement and violations of the cease-fire that followed and are almost daily prove that Azerbaijan does not respect the signed documents. Under these conditions only force can silence Baku.
Krikor Amirzayan
While I agree with the general, it’s still not clear to me who was winning the Four Day War when it was halted through ceasefire. This is of utmost importance: the losing side obviously would like a ceasefire ASAP. After all this time, there has been no clear report as to which party suffered higher casualties (with statistics) and who came out as the dominant side. If Armenia was winning, why did it sign the ceasefire without obtaining guarantees that Baku would respect the ceasefire? Especially since Baku has abused the ceasefire of 1994 so many times.
It’s understandable that both sides would declare victory. However, what we need is a qualified third-party report telling us which side dominated and would have gained further victories if the war was not stopped.
Good question, I think in both instances it was mistake by Armenian side to accept the ceasefire and in both instances Baku ask first for ceasefire. Baku always use Russia to mediate when she feel losing the war. of course Armenia never object to Russia.