It is the 46th day of the siege of Artsakh. Today, the Prime Minister of Armenia presented the plan of his Azerbaijani partners at the government meeting:
“according to our information, Baku’s plan is as follows: to bring the economic and psychological pressure in Nagorno-Karabakh to a certain culmination point, after that to open the corridor for a few days, with the expectation that the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh en masse will leave their homes, close the corridor again and then open it again for a few days and so on until the last Armenian leaves Nagorno-Karabakh.”
Certainly, Nikol Pashinyan is more informed about the plans of the Azerbaijanis, we have no doubts about that. But our sources from Artsakh convey other information to us.
Azerbaijan continues to demand that there should be no intermediary between it and Artsakh, that the authorities of Azerbaijan negotiate directly with the authorities of Artsakh. Moreover, not only Armenia should not act as a mediator, but also Russia and “Ruben Vardanyan appointed by Russia”. And the main condition for opening the road is one: the dismissal of Ruben Vardanyan from the position of the state minister. We were told that they sent a very tough message from Azerbaijan: the road will not be opened as long as Ruben Vardanyan is in office in Artsakh, and they will not make any concessions in this matter.
Unfortunately, a certain wave is already rising in Artsakh against the tenure of Ruben Vardanyan, and tomorrow, the next day, it is possible that protests will be organized with the demand to remove Vardanyan, so that the way is opened. But there are people in Artsakh who are against Vardanyan’s removal. The former president of Artsakh, Bako Sahakyan, and some representatives of the former authorities are also strongly against it. We were interested in the attitude of the Russian side. We were told that the Russians have become so passive and withdrawn that it doesn’t matter to them whether Ruben Vardanyan will hold office or not. On the contrary, messages were sent to the President of Achtsakh several times that he is free in this matter, he can release Vardanyan today.
In fact, in Artsakh they have found themselves in a dead end situation. Giving in to Azerbaijani demands and changing Ruben Vardanyan means opening the door for new concessions, not giving in and continuing to live on closed roads, in the blockade, is also fraught with dangers and the depopulation of Artsakh. Ultimately, if this situation continues, people will find a way to leave Artsakh.
Areg Margaryan