Speaking at the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly (PACE), Pashinian said that discussing the repatriation of the Karabakh Armenians and other refugees from the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict would be “dangerous for the peace process.”
“As for our compatriots who are refugees from Karabakh, our understanding of this issue is that with our support and that of the international community, Karabakh refugees should settle down in Armenia … and we envision the future of our compatriots from Karabakh in Armenia and with Armenian citizenship,” he said.
Answering a question from a non-Armenian member of the Strasbourg-based body, Pashinian reiterated that he believes the return of the Karabakh refugees is “not realistic.”
“I consider the topic of the return of all refugees in this context to be dangerous for the peace process because the Karabakh conflict began with seemingly simple humanitarian issues and escalated into a long-term conflict,” he said.
Pashinian already told the refugees to stop hoping to return to Karabakh ten days after his August 8 talks with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev hosted by U.S. President Donald Trump. A draft Armenian-Azerbaijani peace treaty initialed at the White House says nothing about Karabakh and the rights of its displaced residents.
More than 100,000 Karabakh Armenians, the region’s virtually entire remaining population, fled to Armenia in the space of a week following Azerbaijan’s September 2023 assault condemned by the U.S. and the European Union.
Azerbaijan denies forcing the Karabakh Armenians to flee their homes and says they can live there under Azerbaijani rule. Karabakh’s leaders and ordinary residents rejected such an option even before the exodus. Some of those leaders have said that only “international guarantees” could convince the refugees to return home.
Yerevan has refused to seek such guarantees. Even before the Washington talks, Pashinian made clear that the Karabakh issue is closed for his administration.