PM Pashinyan: Potential return of Armenians to Karabakh poses risk to peace “As the conflict still lives in mindsets”

The potential return of Armenians who left Karabakh may pose a threat to the peace established between Baku and Yerevan, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has stated.

He made the remarks during his speech at the International Forum “Building Peace and Multilateral Cooperation” held in Yerevan, Caliber.Az reports, citing Armenian media.

“I consider the agenda of the return of our displaced sisters and brothers from Nagorno-Karabakh [the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan – ed.] a risk to peace. And I also said that this topic is generally dangerous because it means returning to the original parameters of the conflict,” Pashinyan noted.

Pashinyan also called the start of the process of delimitation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border in 2024 a “success story.”

“At my instruction, Armenian state bodies are organising visits for representatives of civil society, intellectuals, political and party figures, and sometimes representatives of the diaspora to the border area in the Kirants section of Tavush and adjacent territories, to show what we mean when we talk about the peace agenda,” the Armenian premier said.

He added that there has not been a single negative response to what is shown to them on the ground. “This is a very important success story that had its continuation: in 2024, the Republic of Armenia and Azerbaijan signed the Regulation on the Activities of the Delimitation Commissions, which were ratified in both countries. This is, in fact, the first bilateral international document signed between Armenia and Azerbaijan that de jure has force in both countries,” Pashinyan said.

Pashinyan also said the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan has been resolved politically, but in the socio-psychological dimension, it continues.

Peace has already been established between the two countries, but the main difficulty now lies not in diplomacy, but in “understanding the new reality,” he noted.

“When I talk about peace, many find it strange and even alien. Peace is an unfamiliar concept and a new environment for Armenia and Azerbaijan,” said the Armenian prime minister.

Over decades of conflict, both sides have become accustomed to perceiving each other solely through the prism of confrontation, he continued. After the collapse of the USSR, the conflict became the factor around which the political systems, public sentiments, and national identities of both countries were formed.

“Since gaining independence, our societies have not known what peace is. The conflict defined our thinking, our politics, and the relations between our peoples,” Pashinyan said.

Therefore, the end of the conflict in the political sense does not mean an immediate change in public consciousness, he said, adding that overcoming long-standing hostility requires time, dialogue, and new approaches to the perception of the neighbourhood.

“The socio-psychological perception cannot be changed or ‘switched off’ by a single decision,” Pashinyan emphasised.

By Khagan Isayev