Vahram Atanesyan, a former deputy of the Supreme Soviet of Armenia and the National Assembly of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, wrote on his Facebook page:
“In 1988, we, who were not yet thirty years old, could be romantic and believe that it would be possible to achieve the unification of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh “within the framework of Gorbachev’s “perestroika” and “glasnost” policies.
The younger ones will not remember, the older ones will not cite, but for almost forty years, Gorbachev’s behavior during the discussion of the issue in the Supreme Soviet of the USSR has been impressive. If my memory serves me correctly, it was during the speech of the rector of Yerevan State University, Hambardzumyan, that he interrupted the academician and asked a poisonous question: “And can you tell me what percentage of the population of Yerevan were Azerbaijanis in 1914?”
That said it all. Why did I remember? The second president’s campaign team has released a video clip excerpted from an interview with Russian journalist Karaulov by Robert Kocharyan. Judging by the content, it took place in the first months or years after the first Karabakh war. And what does he ask? “Robert Sedrakovich, do you feel like an occupier?”
Regarding Nagorno-Karabakh, the political leadership of the USSR, then independent Russia, has always been sincere. And if some, in their obsession with power in Yerevan and Stepanakert, have inspired the public with falsehoods on its behalf, then neither Gorbachev, nor Yeltsin, nor Putin is to blame for the outcome. The authors of the falsehoods are to blame.”
