Opposition faction "Armenia": Signing of peace treaty by Pashinyan  may trigger a new war

ArmInfo.The signing of a peace treaty by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan may trigger a new war, as stated by Armen Rustamyan, a member of the opposition faction "Armenia" at a parliamentary briefing on October 25.

According to him, the authorities are rushing to acquire the document to show the Armenian people as proof of a new peaceful era and their historical achievement. In his opinion, this will help the authorities understand when to hold new elections. "Nobody wants war, and the current government is trying to maintain power on these thin and sensitive threads," Rustamyan clarified.  At the same time, he emphasized that the haste is only being observed on the part of Armenia, while Azerbaijan and Turkey are confidently moving forward with their plans. According to him, they understand that de jure they do not need any official document to achieve their goals. Their strategy is to acquire everything by force, and then record it de jure to solidify the results. In this situation, the Armenian authorities recognize that they cannot resolve the issue without a mediator. Rustamyan believes that it was the authorities who chose Turkey as a mediator to facilitate a peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan. 

"They are determined to obtain this document at any cost to gain a new mandate. However, the significance of this issue has led to a serious clash of interests among global powers and countries of the region. No one wants this process to spiral out of control. We ran the risk of this clash to occur on our territory, potentially resulting in the loss of Armenia. The authorities must take all necessary measures to prevent this confrontation from turning against us. Our reputation in the world has declined significantly, to the point where we have gone from being a subject to an object. Other countries are now telling us that our existence depends on them," the MP emphasized, citing the elections happening in Georgia as an example. In this regard, the MP addressed the issue of regulations on the joint activities of the commissions on delimitation of borders between Armenia and Azerbaijan, noting that Armenia was forced to abandon its best national experience, which was in the country's best interests. "With this document, we do not have an agreed-upon border, but only the process of its approval. The most that can be expected from the work of this commission is guidance on creating a demarcation map. It is possible that, without a clear idea of the border, the demarcation process will turn into territorial concessions. 

The second absurdity is that the possibility of agreeing on regulations between the two countries automatically requires the simultaneous implementation of this process. However, currently we are moving forward with all processes prematurely and waiting to see what Azerbaijan will do, even though they have not started any processes. A government that truly respects its country would never take such a step.  Additionally, everything that is agreed upon in this document may become nothing once we reach a peace agreement," the opposition MP explained. As Rustamyan argues, in such cases one should go from the general to the specific, and not vice versa. That is, it is necessary to have a general idea of the border first, and then proceed to regulate each part of it. In this regard, he explained that there are no guarantees that after the unification of these parts, the outlined border will correspond to the territorial integrity that the current authorities are talking about - 29,743 square kilometers. "This regulation poses a serious threat to our statehood," the oppositionist added.

During the briefing, the deputy also discussed the second document - the electoral code. He noted that a change had been made to it, stating that in the event of the martial law or a state of emergency being declared after the elections, the results would be nullified. This would enable the authorities to hold the next elections on their own terms.  "The syndrome of power is that it believes it will be eternal. However, every government eventually comes to an end, and they will too. Currently, they are faced with the challenge of creating guarantees for the extension and perpetuation of their power. They have the ability to overturn the results of elections that are not in their favor, which is unprecedented in any country," the deputy concluded. 

Let us recall that the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia ratified the draft law "On the Regulations of the joint activities of the Commissions on Delimitation  of Borders and Border Security between Armenia and Azerbaijan " at the plenary session on October 23.  64 parliamentarians from the ruling "Civil Contract" faction voted in favor of the document. The opposition, represented by the "Armenia" and "I Have the Honor" factions, chose not to participate in the vote.