"Whether we like it or not, Karabakh remains part of Azerbaijan" Publicist Harutyunyan urged Armenians to choose peace

"Armenia itself should solve the problems with its neighbours. With the help of mediators, of course. And there are mediators. There is Russia, and there is the West."

A public figure, human rights activist and publicist Vardan Harutyunyan writes about this, Caliber.Az reports citing the Armenian media.

According to him, both mediators offer themselves as mediators, but their goals are different. "The West wants to establish peace in our region and oust Russia from it, and Russia is trying to stay in the region and manage it due to the unresolved Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. Armenia must decide which direction it will choose," the publicist writes.

According to Vardanyan, in one case Armenia continues to remain in the sphere of influence of Russia, continues to have a conflict controlled by Russia, and in the other case a point is put in the conflict, and Armenia becomes a satellite of the West.

"Whether we like it or not, Karabakh remains part of Azerbaijan in both cases. Neither the West nor Russia question the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, including Karabakh. Subtlety in the wording.

Russia proposes, in parallel with the signing and implementation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani peace treaty, according to which Armenia should recognise Azerbaijan's territorial integrity, to continue discussing Karabakh's status. Thus, the conflict continues, which justifies Russia's presence in the region. At the same time, the West offers to put an end to the conflict and sign a peace treaty, simultaneously solving the security problems of the Armenians of Karabakh in such a way that they continue to live safely in their homeland.

All participants in the negotiation process, the co-chair countries of the Minsk Group - Russia, France, the United States, and authoritative international structures - have stressed for years that they do not question Azerbaijan's territorial integrity. Along with the weakening of our positions in the negotiation process, in the 2000s this point of view was increasingly strengthened, and after 2016-2017 the issue of Karabakh's status faded into the background: only concessions were required from Armenia. It's not a secret. [Former] President Serzh Sargsyan stated this in the National Assembly of Armenia.

There was no such unequivocal statement in the 1990s. At that time, it was a question of mutual concessions, as a result of which, if not immediately, then through ongoing discussions, Karabakh should have received a status. But the coup of 1998, staged by maximalists in Armenia, closed the window of these opportunities.

Today, when we have lost everything solely through our own fault and we have no trump cards, saying that with one choice or another we can get Karabakh is a delusion or a lie invented for propaganda purposes.

None of the proposed solutions excludes Karabakh from Azerbaijan, but they lead us to different milestones. In this sense, Armenia's choice is civilizational. If we follow the path proposed by Russia, the conflict will continue. The ongoing conflict, of course, will inflame the enmity more and lead to new wars and new losses. This will force us to remain in the sphere of Russian influence, to be a satellite of Russia. At best, we will have a situation that was yesterday and is today," Harutyunyan writes.

In his opinion, if the Western option is chosen, the conflict will end, the region will become peaceful, the borders will open, and a path leading to the civilised world will be outlined.

"At the moment, Armenia needs a real, not a paper world. The sooner the better. The choice is ours. "There is no such thing as being pro-Russian or pro-Western; there is only a choice of who to be," writes the Armenian publicist.