Pashinyan says discussions on return of Armenian and Azerbaijani refugees are dangerous and destructive for peace
YEREVAN, August 19. /ARКА/. The discussion by both sides of the topic of return of those who have become refugees since the start of the conflict in Armenia and Azerbaijan is a dangerous factor that damages the peace established between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Armenian PM Pashinyan said in an address to the nation on Monday.
According to him, bilateral attempts to discuss these topics will not benefit the refugees themselves, but will become a new source of tension between the states. I have also shared this understanding with official Baku.
‘And I note that yes, it is a dangerous and harmful topic for the newly born peace. ‘My perception is that all those people who disagree with this strategy, willy-nilly, find themselves in the logic of reviving the conflict. Many conflicts, including Karabakh, began with the raising of humanitarian, cultural, seemingly innocent and simple issues, but we remember and, unfortunately, have all experienced on our own skin what they turned into.
Our vision of the future of our compatriots displaced from Karabakh is as follows: with our and the international community’s support, they should settle in the Republic of Armenia and live, create, and accomplish here as full citizens of the Republic of Armenia,’ Pashinyan said.
‘In response to this criticism, I must remind you that back in March 2025, I made a statement on this occasion from the high rostrum of the National Assembly, and later, I addressed the people with a strange appeal for the Prime Minister. I said that we should not continue the Karabakh movement, I said that I would lead Armenia with this logic of not continuing the Karabakh movement, and if the people do not agree with this logic, I urged them to carry out a revolution.
The people, that is, you, dear citizens, did not carry out a revolution because you understood, like me, that peace is impossible without closing the Karabakh issue, that the Karabakh issue was indeed simply used by some forces as a tool to prevent Armenia’s independence, sovereignty, the establishment and development of statehood.
As for our compatriots displaced from Karabakh, I have publicly stated more than once that I do not consider their ideas about return to be realistic.’
On September 19-20, 2023, Azerbaijan launched a large-scale aggression against Karabakh using artillery, UAVs and combat aircraft. On September 28, following negotiations with the Azerbaijani side, Karabakh President Samvel Shahramanyan issued a decree that all state institutions were to be dissolved from January 1, 2024.
The residents of Karabakh were forced to leave their homeland and moved to Armenia. -0-
