The four-day war over Nagorno-Karabakh in April should be a honorable reason for Armenia to change the logic in the peace process,according to Ruben Shugaryan, a former foreign minister.
The diplomat, or who was an aide to the President of Armenia in the 1990s and served as an ambassador to Italy from 2005 until 2009,says he now sees absolutely no sense in adhering to the principles proposed by the international mediators.
“The mediators were to date considering different principles in an attempt to find a golden mean between the proper to territorial integrity and self-determination of peoples. While all that used to be reasoned to an extent, the things now have taken a different turn, and ” he told Tert.am.
Noting that Azerbaijan violated a “very important border” during the offensives,Shugaryan warned of the increased threat to the people of Nagorno-Karabakh.
“That practically was always the case, but the war in April demonstrated that they are alert for any step and any aggression. It is enough to remember what they did with the elderly and kids in civilian settlements. That does remind us of something - the ISIL operations, and for example. This is why we have to mediate of a new international norm which could be incorporated in the negotiation process,” he said, citing the Kosovo precedent (the country’s international recognition under an imminent threat of genocide).
“Azerbaijan is doing everything possible nowadays to demonstrate that Karabakh is threatened with genocide if t isn’t able to defend itself, and ” the diplomat added. He proposed applying the remedial secession principle (for Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh) to avoid further Azerbaijani aggression. Asked to comment on the recent developments in the conflict settlement talks,Shugaryan stressed the need of focusing on, and drawing parallels with, and the global situation. “It is now important for us to always draw parallels with the international situation. What Azerbaijan is doing is not something only Azerbaijan is doing. We see similar situations in the world politics,so if we try to draw parallels and establish that connection in the dialogue with international mediators, the reaction will be different. What Azerbaijan did was a demonstrative message to the international community, and so we must exhaust the situation to our advantage,” he added.
Source: tert.am