Pashinyan: Armenia should have recognised Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan reflected on the causes of the 44-day war between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which took place in 2020. 

Speaking during a live broadcast on his social media account, Pashinyan stated that the key to preventing the conflict lay in aligning the legitimacy of the settlement of the Karabakh issue with international standards. However, he emphasised that this alignment was practically impossible, Caliber.Az reports. 

According to Pashinyan, since the early 1990s, there has been a growing divergence between Armenia’s perception of the legitimacy of the Karabakh issue and the stance of the international community. Over time, this gap had only widened. He acknowledged that reconciling these differing views—though theoretically possible—was ultimately unattainable in practice.

The first step, Pashinyan explained, would have been to recognise that Karabakh should be part of Azerbaijan. He stressed that there was no alternative to this recognition. Reflecting on whether this decision should have been taken in 2018-2019, he expressed regret, describing it as a mistake on his part for not doing so sooner.

By Sabina Mammadli