Former Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian today announced that he’s heading a recently established committee to pursue the “collective repatriation” of displaced Armenians back to Artsakh and to ensure their right to live safely in their homeland with international guarantees.

Oskanian says peace in the region “is impossible when a part of the Armenian people is forcibly displaced from its homeland, and a subordinate "peace" is imposed on Armenia with the threat of new losses.”

The former minister writes the committee will provide information about the start of its activities and its members in the coming days.

Oskanian, who served as foreign minister from 1998 to 2008 under President Robert Kocharyan has been a vocal critic of PM Nikol Pashinyan and his Karabakh policies.

He was arrested at a Yerevan rally on November 11, 2020 to protest Armenia’s signing a declaration to end the war in Artsakh.

Oskanian also rebuked Pashinyan for attending the inauguration of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Ankara last June, arguing that Pashinyan “did not represent the Armenian people, only himself”.

Oskanian labelled Pashinyan’s visit to Ankara as “undignified” given Erdoğan’s assistance to Azerbaijan and the Turkish president’s insults targeting Armenians.

Photo: Photolure News Agency