Vartan Oskanian, the former Foreign Minister of Armenia (1998-2008), provided the media with his article about the processes surrounding the Nagorno-Karabakh (NK) issue.

"The decision of the French Senate was a partial answer to all those who claim that as a result of the 44-day war, we lost Nagorno Karabakh, and we have no diplomatic way or alternative but to accept Baku's insistence that Nagorno Karabakh is part of Azerbaijan," he stated in his article.

"The sad thing is, of course, that the main supporter of surrender is the authorities of Armenia. It seems that they combined all the possibilities of the authorities to convince the world that NK is Azerbaijani territory. Even mediators and interested countries are surprised by this policy, regardless of their interests in this or that version of solving the problem," he added.

"Regardless of what Azerbaijan and Turkey say, the Nagorno-Karabakh problem has not been resolved. It was not solved in the years 1918-20, it was not solved in the entire Soviet period, it was not solved in the previous thirty years, and it is not solved today. Armenian political and diplomatic achievements in the Nagorno-Karabakh issue cannot be belittled," Vartan Oskanian stated.

"No authority of the Republic of Armenia has ever recognized [the separatist] Nagorno Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan. The Madrid principles were a serious diplomatic achievement and have not lost their modernity. At the end of November 2007, the three co-chair countries of the Minsk Group presented the document to the OSCE Council of Ministers, not as another proposal for settlement of the issue, but as their joint final "best option" [co-chairs' best option] for the solution of the issue, which is still on file, transferred to the OSCE depository," the former Foreign Minister of Armenia added.

"Armenian statehood from the day of independence and the following years has been anchored on five pillars: Nagorno-Karabakh, army, constitution, apostolic church, and diaspora. Today, those pillars have been significantly undermined, and one of them, Nagorno-Karabakh, is facing the danger of complete collapse. We renounced Nagorno-Karabakh, destroyed the army, violated the constitution, persecuted the church, and despised and humiliated the diaspora. It is time to deal with strengthening these pillars and, first of all, to prevent the collapse of the Nagorno-Karabakh pillar with nationwide intervention," the article emphasized.

He underlined, "Today, all Armenians must put two tasks before themselves: to resist the authorities inside and not to allow any document to be signed that will close or even make it difficult for the realization of the right to self-determination of Nagorno-Karabakh, and outside to consolidate all kinds of political and legal opportunities to keep Nagorno-Karabakh alive and present."

"The leader here should be Nagorno-Karabakh with the clear, unequivocal determination of its authorities and the frequent and massive gatherings of its people," Oskanian concluded.