The story of Artsvashen’s return resembles the famous saying — is the glass half empty or half full? This was stated by former Foreign Minister of Artsakh Karen Mirzoyan.
“We are being presented with this as a positive development — that soon our sovereign territory, Artsvashen, will be returned. But no one is talking about the other side of the issue: simultaneously, the so-called Azerbaijani ‘enclaves’ will also be ‘returned,’ and their legal status is highly uncertain. Azerbaijan has put forward certain arguments, claiming that in the final years of the Soviet Union these territories were considered part of the Azerbaijan SSR. However, the history of how these lands were transferred and how that process unfolded casts doubt on Azerbaijan’s sovereign rights over them,” Mirzoyan said.
According to him, it is clear that the story of Artsvashen’s “return” will inevitably be accompanied by the handover of these so-called Azerbaijani enclaves — a development that poses a serious threat to Armenia’s security, given their geographic location.
“The most notable example is Tigranashen. It lies on a vital highway that carries Armenia’s main freight traffic — a lifeline that, in essence, sustains our country today,” he stressed.
Mirzoyan also pointed out that the discussions about returning the enclaves coincided with Pashinyan’s recent proposal to establish a new transport route that would run precisely along this road. “This raises the question: if Tigranashen is handed over, how does Pashinyan plan to ensure the security of that transport corridor?” he asked.
“There are many questions surrounding these announcements. But the real issue is that we are living in an environment of information warfare — not only between Armenia and external actors, but also within the country itself: between the government, the opposition, and various other groups. And in the middle of all this stands the ordinary citizen. These forces exploit the population’s lack of legal awareness and low level of media literacy,” Mirzoyan concluded.