Bako Sahakyan, former President of the Republic of Artsakh, in an interview with Tert.am, addressed the relations between the authorities of the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Artsakh, and the Artsakh issue within that framework.
-Mr. President, after the 2020 war, much has been said about the fact that, especially after the April 2016 war, there were discussions between the Armenian and Artsakh authorities regarding possible scenarios for the Karabakh process and their solutions. What were those discussions about?
At various times, we discussed with the Armenian authorities a wide range of issues concerning developments in and around Artsakh. After the April 2016 military operations, great efforts were made in the directions of foreign policy and security to advance Artsakh’s interests, to ensure correct positioning in the negotiation process, to prevent the resumption of military operations, and, after the post-war recovery period, to bring Artsakh into a new phase of development and the strengthening of security.
-Mr. President, was there any scenario in the negotiation process that the former Armenian authorities imposed on the Artsakh authorities? Let me ask directly: did the former Armenian authorities impose unilateral concessions on Artsakh, particularly territorial concessions?
Let me state at once: no. The former Armenian authorities did not propose unilateral (territorial) concessions; nothing of the sort was discussed.
Our cooperation and dialogue with the Armenian leaders was honest, straightforward, and constructive, and any discussion took place in an atmosphere of mutual respect and trust.
Both after the April military operations and before them, the Armenian leadership always shared with us various issues of the negotiation process, but these were not intended as impositions, but rather to inform us, to discuss with us, and to hear our viewpoint.
