Armenia’s ruling party MP lashes out at ex-foreign minister over manipulations

MP Vahagn Aleksanyan of the Armenian ruling Civil Contract faction has responded to remarks by Vardan Oskanyan, the former foreign minister.

In a Facebook post, Vahagn Aleksanyan writes that “if the former authorities did not recognize Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan, how could they give the sovereign territory of Armenia – Meghri to Azerbaijan?” Caliber.Az reports, citing the Armenian media.

“I do not know why Vardan Oskanyan decided that after dozens of unsuccessful attempts, he would manage to fool the people. However, he was wrong again. First, he went to sign a bill, which states that Karabakh’s recognition as part of Azerbaijan will entail criminal punishment.

However, the same Vardan Oskanyan and Robert Kocharyan personally discussed the option of exchanging Karabakh for Meghri region. If they did not recognize Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan, how could they give the sovereign territory of Meghri to Azerbaijan in return? And one more point, Kocharyan commended former Prime Minister Aram Sargsyan for suggesting this option to Heydar Aliyev through a Czech journalist,” the pro-government MP wrote.

He also responded to Oskanyan's assertion that during the rule of the former Armenian government, a war with Azerbaijan was impossible.

“At this point, the question is: if the option of war was excluded, then what is the April War [April battles of 2016]? Even if Vardan Oskanyan claims that the military option was ruled out after the April battles, what did Serzh Sargsyan talk about from the rostrum of the National Assembly a week before the revolution? What negotiation impasse was he talking about? Well, does Mr. Oskanyan think that people have no memory?” Pashinyan’s ally questions.

Armenia’s ex-Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan suggested that the government form a group of negotiators on Karabakh and delegate the necessary powers to it, as a result of which "the current situation in the negotiations will change dramatically in 2-3 months".