If Armenia had not suffered the catastrophe — the unconstitutional change of power in 2018 — the independence of Artsakh would already have been recognized. This was stated by former Speaker of the Armenian Parliament Tigran Torosyan, who emphasized that the entire negotiation process and all the documents on the table had enshrined Artsakh’s right to self-determination.
“Now all international actors — Russia, France, the United States — in justifying their current position, hypocritically hide behind Nikol Pashinyan. For example, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov claims that even Armenia did not recognize Artsakh’s independence. But he conveniently omits the fact that he himself was among those who urged Yerevan to refrain from recognition, arguing that the process would inevitably lead to international recognition,” Torosyan noted.
According to him, the current position of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries is blatant hypocrisy.
“Out of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, three — Russia, the United States, and France — dealt with the Artsakh issue for more than 15 years and insisted it had to be resolved based on the principle of the right to self-determination. And they did not merely state this, but enshrined it in documents. Why has their approach changed? Because they saw that the issue had become ownerless,” the former speaker said.
He also expressed bewilderment at the passivity of Artsakh’s current leadership.
“If in 2023 this could still be explained by a state of shock, two years later such a stance is unjustifiable. Today, active work is needed: knocking on the doors of international organizations and forcing everyone to reengage with the issue. The example of East Timor is very telling: for 27 years these people endured terrible persecution and genocide, with everyone against them — from the United States to the last UN member. But through their struggle they achieved recognition. The independence of East Timor became a reality. The same is possible for Artsakh,” he stressed.
Torosyan recalled that back in 1988, at the dawn of the Karabakh movement, many considered it reckless, since it meant facing the repressive system of the Soviet Union, which persecuted and arrested activists. However, determination and willpower brought the struggle to the point where Artsakh was on the verge of international recognition.
“If not for the 2018 catastrophe, when an unconstitutional change of power occurred in Armenia, Artsakh would have been recognized,” he concluded.