Armenia will get weakened sovereignty and inability to defend itself from TRIPP

The peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan, brokered by the USA, in which Armenian prisoners remain in Azerbaijani prisons, 150,000 refugees from Artsakh are denied the right to return, and ethnic cleansing carried out by Azerbaijan is rewarded with a 99-year transportation corridor through the sovereign territory of Armenia, is not really a path to peace, but a plan to destroy the Armenian state. This was stated during the briefing organized by the Armenian National Committee of America on Capitol Hill under the title “Peace in the absence of justice in the South Caucasus”.

It is noted that the peace agreement in its current form does not contain any provision that requires the release of Armenian prisoners of war from arbitrary detention. It does not oblige Azerbaijan to protect the centuries-old Armenian Christian heritage in Artsakh. Nor does it in any way address the status of the 150,000 Armenians who were forced to flee their homes.

“These are not peace talks between the two sides. This is the dictate of Azerbaijan, with the support of Turkey and the agreement of the West, aimed at the complete and unconditional capitulation of Armenia. Any peace that is imposed on Armenia without a minimum consideration of its sovereignty and vitality is doomed to failure,” the participants noted.

As highlighted, TRIPP is an ill-conceived project with little or no chance of success. And even if it is implemented, Armenia and the Armenian people will not get any benefit from it, the result will be weakened borders, weakened sovereignty and the inability to defend against Turkish-Azerbaijani aggression.

The organizers of the briefing also emphasized that the continuous presence of Azerbaijani troops in the sovereign territory of Armenia is a clear signal that Baku does not consider itself obliged to keep agreements with Armenia. Their presence poses a direct and immediate threat to the country.

—