Artsakh President Samvel Shahramanyan told the French Le Figaro Newspaper that his September 28 decree that dissolved the Artsakh Republic and its institutions is not valid. He said that he had to sign the document to enable Artsakh Armenians, who were forced to flee, safe passage to Armenia amid Azerbaijan’s deadly offensive.
“I understood that the decree to ‘dissolve’ the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic was illegal, but it was the only way to save out compatriots,” Shahramanyan said in an interview with Le Figaro, which was published on Wednesday.
“Due to the imbalance of forces, we did not have the opportunity to show resistance [against Azerbaijan], that’s why we quickly established contact with the Azerbaijanis, so that the civilian population would be free from combat operations as much as possible,” explained the Artsakh President.
“After 12 hours of negotiations, we put an end to combat operations. The very next day, the citizens of Artsakh asked to evacuate to Armenia, fearing mass murders by the invaders. Thus, we started the second round of negotiations so that their evacuation goes as smoothly as possible,” he said, adding that there were still 10 to 11 Armenians remaining in Artsakh who are incapacitated, ill or have disabilities, who cannot move freely and do not wish to leave the “graves of their relatives.”
Shahramanyan emphasized that the Azerbaijani had already amassed troops along the Artsakh-Azerbaijan line-of-contact ahead of the September 28 attack, and shrugged at rampant rumors that his election to the post triggered the attacks.
“It was obvious that after a nine-month siege to weaken us, they were going to attack,” he said.
Shahramanyan said that the possible return of Armenians to Artsakh, under the current circumstances, is “unrealistic.”
“In the current situation, it is unrealistic to think about returning to our territory occupied by Azerbaijanis. It is necessary to take into consideration the realities of the peoples of Azerbaijan and Artsakh who consider themselves enemies. In Baku, Azerbaijanis are taught at school that Armenians are enemies,” Sharamanyan said.
“It will take years for the mindset of the Azerbaijani people to change and peaceful coexistence between the [two] neighbors to become possible. And I am thinking here as much about the Armenians of Armenia as about the Armenians of Artsakh. How can the authorities of Yerevan consider their country safe, when some parts of Armenia’s territory are currently occupied by Azerbaijanis, and the leaders of Baku publicly declare their rights to other [Armenian] territories?” Shahramanyan asked.
He also discussed the the eight Artsakh leaders who were captured and are currently in detention in Baku, explaining that in addition to them, there are seven Artsakh soldiers who were also captured.
Shahramanian said that he asked France to apply pressure on Azerbaijan, demanding the release of all Armenian captives and prisoners of war.
The Artsakh President said that he and other government officials are working “in exile” in Yerevan.
“The office of the President of Artsakh and the offices of the judicial and legislative structures [of Artsakh] are located in the building where I am hosting you in Yerevan. [Artsakh] lawmakers gather here to vote on legislation. A decree was signed in October, which stipulates that all [Artsakh] government ministers remain in their positions on a voluntary basis,” Shahramanian said.
This statement has angered Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who slammed and warned the Artsakh leaders, saying at the cabinet on Thursday that such declarations endanger Armenia’s security.
