The leakage of the document comes shortly before the UN Security Council is to convene for an emergency meeting in New York at Armenia’s request to discuss the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh brought on by Azerbaijan’s de facto blockade of the region.
On July 25, Lavrov met separately with the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Ararat Mirzoyan and Jeyhun Bayramov, in Moscow, and then the three ministers’ tripartite meeting was also held. Receiving Bayramov in Moscow, Lavrov announced that in addition to the already signed statements, a number of documents were being prepared for discussion by the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia, without providing details about their content.
The document published today by Petrosian and attributed to Lavrov is titled “The fundamental principles and parameters of ensuring the rights and security of the Armenian population in the territory of the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast of Soviet Azerbaijan in accordance with the legislation of Azerbaijan” and contains 14 points.
They state that the Armenian population should have equal legal protection and should not be discriminated against on the basis of language, ethnicity or religion, should not be forcibly or involuntarily displaced, Armenians should not be persecuted for being part of the local government or armed groups, except when they are found guilty of war crimes in a judicial order.
The proposals state that the Armenian population should be proportionally part of the legislative, executive and judicial branches of power of Azerbaijan, including the Prosecutor’s Office and the Police of Azerbaijan, and participate in the decision-making concerning the Armenian population.
According to the proposals ascribed to Lavrov, the Armenian language should be freely used along with the Azerbaijani language in official writing and in public places. The inviolability of Armenians’ private property must be guaranteed, the religious freedom of Armenians must be ensured, education in Armenian from elementary grades to university, Armenian cultural and national identity must be preserved, the published document says.
It is stated that a separate agreement should be signed between Armenia and Azerbaijan, according to which close ties between the Armenian population of the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast of Soviet Azerbaijan and Armenia will be ensured, and the unimpeded receipt of humanitarian and economic aid for the Armenian population from outside should be ensured.
During the day neither the Foreign Ministry of Nagorno-Karabakh nor the Foreign Ministry of Armenia responded in any way to say whether the document published by the Karabakh figure is authentic or not. The Russian side did not comment on the leaked document either.
Petrosian himself also left phone calls unanswered. However, he accompanied the publication of the document on Facebook with the following post: “I have to publish it so that the public understands what is really happening... Today, [Russian President Vladimir] Putin has the opportunity to change his attitude and plans at the UN Security Council session... Let’s wait.”
Political analyst Alexander Iskandarian ascribed the leakage of the document to “a very active process unfolding around Nagorno-Karabakh.”
“As for the text that was leaked, even if we assume that it is true and that such a text really exists, and that it is really a proposal from the Russian side, the main thing is missing here: the technologies as to how this writing will be guaranteed, how these points will be implemented, who will monitor it and what mechanism will be operated are not described. Without clarifying these questions, this text does not make much sense,” he said.
“It is clear that there are a lot of documents circulating, but there is an accepted principle among diplomats that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed. Even if we accept that this text is true, it may not mean anything until we see how the process develops, and the process will still take a long time to develop,” Iskandarian added.
Political commentator Hakob Badalian voiced doubts regarding whether the revealed document was a submitted proposal or just a draft. He said that in any case the content of the presented proposals was unacceptable to both Yerevan and Stepanakert as it meant Nagorno-Karabakh’s dissolution. He, however, considered remarkable the timing of the leak – hours before the expected discussion at the UN Security Council and after a phone call between Lavrov and Bayramov.
“The publication is accompanied with a post that Putin has the opportunity to change the attitude at the UN Security Council session, that is, here at least the following question arises: is it a hint that the [Russian] Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not convey complete information to Putin and in this sense different games are going on, and this way an attempt is being made to draw [Putin’s] attention?... Naturally, there is also a question as to whether the Russian Foreign Ministry can carry out any actions fundamentally different from Putin’s approach or carry out any actions secretly from Putin? At the same time, if there is a direct expectation, then the question arises: if, for example, Russia’s policy does not change, then what does Nagorno-Karabakh do, or what does the Armenian side do in general if it has to deal with such a proposal?” Badalian said.