The monopoly on delimitation has been destroyed

The political reality of Armenia is so paradoxical that Nikol Pashinyan, being the leader and ideologist of the “party of war and defeat”, managed to create a political myth that only he is able to bring peace to the country.

He is the only one who is ready to take responsibility and delimit the borders, the only one who is able to take responsibility for unblocking communications, etc. Moreover, almost all the powerful propaganda against the movement led by Bagrat Srbazan is based on the idea that the suspension of the delimitation process will result in a new war.

But what happened last Sunday? A myth created by Nikol Pashinyan was destroyed at Republic Square during the rally.

Bagrat Srbazan himself stressed that he is not against delimitation, and former Secretary General of the Armenian Foreign Ministry Vahagn Melikyan made a number of important statements.

Melikyan called the border delimitation process currently underway in the Tavush region “unlawful” and “unconstitutional”, as well as “ongoing capitulation in conditions of seeming peace.”

The diplomat stressed that Armenia surrenders territories without any security guarantees regarding the prevention of a new war. According to him, delimitation and demarcation in the absence of a peace treaty and diplomatic relations between the two countries is an unprecedented phenomenon in diplomatic practice.
He stressed that the 1991 Alma-Ata Declaration cannot be the basis for delimitation since it does not contain any description of the border, with maps not being attached to the document. Melikyan stated that there were two processes regarding the drawing of Armenian and Azerbaijani borders in the Soviet years.

The first of them was the map, ratified in 1928–1929 by the Supreme Soviets of the two republics. The second one was the agreements mutually signed in 1984–1987 by the joint Armenian–Azerbaijani commission. According to the diplomat, all other documents, including those intended for internal use of the map of the General Staff of the USSR Armed Forces, have no legal basis.

He also stressed the need to exclude any positional change or retreat of the Armenian Armed Forces from their positions until the process of delimitation and demarcation of the border is fully completed. “For delimitation and demarcation, Armenia and Azerbaijan first of all need an Interstate document, which must be ratified by the parliaments of the two countries. If during this process any part of the territory of Armenia may be ceded to Azerbaijan, this issue should be put to a referendum,” Melikyan said.

In other words, an alternative to the current model of unilateral concessions under the guise of delimitation was presented from a high political rostrum.

No one (unless you are Hovik Aghazaryan or Ilham Aliyev) can no longer declare that revanchists are rushing to power, ready to wage a new war. The political process has brought to the fore those who have an alternative roadmap to establish a new status quo in the region, allowing Armenia and Azerbaijan to coexist side by side.

Think about it…