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The original was posted on /r/armenia by /u/armeniapedia on 2024-09-28 01:01:07+00:00.
former defense minister of Nagorno-Karabakh Samvel Babayan disclosed details from his secret negotiations with Azerbaijan months before the ethnic cleansing in 2023
Babayan was attempting to find a solution to end the deadlock and lift the blockade. Unlike the opposition forces who were pressuring President Arayik Harutyunyan to adopt a hardline stance against Azerbaijan, Babayan was more open to mutual concessions and direct negotiations with Azerbaijan without the involvement of Russia. He launched a separate effort to negotiate with Azerbaijan after obtaining the permission of President Harutyunyan.
In a Friday interview, Babayan said he and the Azerbaijani envoy agreed on the main principles to launch negotiations. Babayan gave Azerbaijan a 23-paragraph document. This is the document that Babayan earlier advised the Nagorno-Karabakh National Security Council to formally submit to Azerbaijan on behalf of Nagorno-Karabakh, but according to Babayan, the authorities did not want to "assume any responsibility", so he says it all fell on his shoulders to attempt to negotiate with Azerbaijan separately.
The reason the Nagorno-Karabakh government refused to adopt it is because Babayan's plan envisaged Nagorno-Karabakh as formally within the map of Azerbaijan. Babayan mocks the authorities for being too "self-confident despite being in the status of a hostage" at the time in 2023.
According to Babayan's plan, Nagorno-Karabakh would have autonomy within Azerbaijan. That was one of the 23 paragraphs he sent to Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan rejected 3 of the paragraphs and suggested its own solutions for those.
For example, Azerbaijan wanted Nagorno-Karabakh to destroy all the military equipment, while Babayan wanted to transfer the weapons to Armenia.
Second example. Babayan wanted any product imported from Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh to be free of customs duties, while Azerbaijan agreed to abolish import tax only on food.
Babayan says none of the disagreements were "ultimatum-like" and he believes there were opportunities for further negotiations.
Babayan scolds the opposition forces for ignoring Azerbaijan's threats and proceeding with their plan to remove President Arayik Harutyunyan from power through a "presidential appointment" process. According to Babayan, Azerbaijan had warned that this process would further complicate issues. Babayan says the opposition was being directly controlled by Moscow, and that Moscow pressured President Arayik Harutyunyan to resign and for the opposition to appoint a new president. Babayan says the pro-Russian forces in the Nagorno-Karabakh administration "snitched" on him to Russia by complaining to Moscow that Babayan was trying to negotiate with Azerbaijan by bypassing Russia. According to Babayan, Russia and the Nagorno-Karabakh forces took steps to derail his negotiation process. Babayan says the Nagorno-Karabakh administration was "naïve" and legitimately thought Russia would save them.
Babayan disputes the claim that Nagorno-Karabakh Foreign Minister David Babayan voluntarily turned himself to Azerbaijan after the invasion. He says David Babayan cussed at Aliyev's wife Mehriban while in the airport so Ilham Aliyev gave a special order to arrest him and said no one else would be allowed to leave Nagorno-Karabakh unless David Babayan was arrested. Bako Sahakyan and a few others spent two days convincing David Babayan to turn himself in so at least [they and] others could flee Nagorno-Karabakh. So they put David Babayan in a presidential car and "dumped" him in Shushi which was under Azerbaijani control, according to Babayan.
Babayan believes Nagorno-Karabakh residents should file international lawsuits against Azerbaijan for the attack, invasion, and displacement. He believes this process must be separate from Armenia and that the Armenian government must continue to focus on a peace deal with Azerbaijan.
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