The current policy of Armenia’s authorities is neither a path to peace nor a path to democracy. This is the opinion of historian Pietro Shakarian.
According to him, today’s government, which claims to stand as a guardian of democracy, is in fact betraying these ideals through its policy towards Artsakh. The essence of the Artsakh movement, he noted, lay in democracy. “It was both a national and a democratic movement at the same time, because first and foremost it was about the right of the people of Artsakh to self-determination — to decide for themselves whether to be an independent state, a part of Armenia, or perhaps even within the Russian sphere. It was the right of people to determine their own destiny,” he said.
Shakarian emphasized that the 1988 decision of the NKAO to vote for unification with Soviet Armenia was an unprecedented act of democratic resistance. “The people declared: ‘We no longer want to live this way, we will decide our own fate.’ And if this is not democracy, then what should be considered democracy?” he stressed.
Shakarian added that when the current Prime Minister of Armenia recognizes Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan, he is in effect declaring that the rights of the people of Artsakh do not matter. “This is a betrayal of principles. A betrayal of democracy. Because democracy is not the diktat of Mr. Aliyev from Baku, but the right of people to determine their own future,” he stated.
The Armenian Prime Minister, Shakarian continued, claims that Armenia now lives under the Fourth Republic and that after the signing of the Washington Declaration, a new era of peace has begun. “But what has fundamentally changed? Nothing. We live under the constant threat from Azerbaijan, which continues to put forward new demands. And even if all current demands are met, new ones will appear tomorrow. To speak of a ‘new era of peace’ is to be detached from reality. The reality is this: we are still living in the Third Republic, and it is in crisis,” he concluded.