STEPANAKERT (Realist English). Since the time of Emperor Peter I, Russia has no right to betray the Armenians of Karabakh, and in this regard there is a sacred duty and responsibility to them that no one has canceled yet, says Viktor Krivopuskov, Doctor of Sociology, President of the Russian Society for Friendship and Cooperation with Armenia.
“We should always remember with gratitude that it was the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh who initiated the voluntary entry of the Armenian people into the Russian Empire. In 1721, at the congress of Armenian communities in the Gandzasar monastery, they appealed to Peter the Great with a request to accept the Armenian people into Russian citizenship. As you know, it was 200 years ago, when the current state of Azerbaijan did not even have a predecessor,” he recalled.
Krivopuskov stressed that in the fall of 2020, Armenians had to heroically fight for their lives and their lands against the neighbor who was eager for revenge for the defeat in the first Karabakh war of 1992-1994.:
“Azerbaijan has overtly, with the help of Turkey, attracted about 2 thousand Islamic terrorists from Syria, Libya, Turkey, Pakistan and the Ukraine to the battles in Karabakh. With full military and political support, and, in fact, direct participation of Turkey, Azerbaijan used prohibited weapons and shells against civilians and to destruct hospitals, churches, schools, and other civilian infrastructure following the principle “scorched earth”.”
In his opinion, the trilateral agreement – signed by Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev, Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikola Pashinyan with the mediation mission of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, – “was clearly drawn up in a hurry, with one goal: to stop the war, to introduce Russian peacekeepers into the territory of Karabakh as guarantors of the peaceful existence of the two peoples”. “At the time, according to the logic of the situation, they did the right thing. There are no complaints.”
Krivopuskov believes that the issue of status of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic is fundamental for the parties to the agreement and the future fate of the region:
“A fair, not poliative, decision deserves the Nobel (Peace) Prize. Azerbaijan’s uncontested rhetoric about the absence of any guarantees for the Armenian people for a decent life and development is not seen and not heard only by the deaf and the dumb. This is obvious for Russia, for the UN, and for the entire “democratic world”. Therefore, despite the avarice of Azerbaijan and Turkey on the issue, there should be only one condition at stake, namely: the right to a safe life and the distinctive development of the Armenian people of Karabakh, to the preservation of their historical values created over millennia, including those included in the treasury of the world culture.”
