First Armenian president reveals reasons for country’s defeat in Karabakh war

By Trend

Armenia itself attracted defeat in the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh war due to the doubtful and irresponsible policy of the authorities over the past 23 years, first President of Armenia Levon Ter-Petrosyan said, Trend reports with reference to the Armenian media.

“The foundation of the defeat was laid in 1998 upon false belief in the possibility of maintaining the status quo,” Ter-Petrosyan added.

“The end of the defeat was announced by acting Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan by his provocative statement "Karabakh is Armenia and that’s it" and this was the end of Armenia,” the first Armenian president said.

"During 23 years, our authorities behaved like gamblers, making new bets, trying to win more, and therefore losing what they have already won," Ter-Petrosyan said.

Following over a month of military action to liberate its territories from Armenian occupation from late Sept. to early Nov. 2020, Azerbaijan has pushed Armenia to sign the surrender document. A joint statement on the matter was made by the Azerbaijani president, Armenia's PM, and the president of Russia.

A complete ceasefire and a cessation of all hostilities in the zone of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was introduced on Nov. 10, 2020.

Armenian Armed Forces launched a large-scale military attack on positions of the Azerbaijani army on the front line, using large-caliber weapons, mortars, and artillery on Sept. 27. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-offensive along the entire front.

Back in July 2020, the Armenian Armed Forces violated the ceasefire in the direction of Azerbaijan's Tovuz district. As a result of Azerbaijan's retaliation, the opposing forces were silenced. The fighting continued the following days. Azerbaijan lost a number of military personnel members, who died fighting off the attacks of the Armenian Armed Forces.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, the Armenian Armed Forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.