The 44-day war in 2020 could have ended earlier and with fewer losses, former Artsakh Human Rights Defender Artak Beglaryan said, blaming Armenia’s leadership for strategic failures and criticizing Russia and the international community over the events of 2023.
Speaking about the November 9, 2020 ceasefire agreement, Beglaryan argued that ending the war in October would have secured more favorable terms, Factor.am reported.
“By November 9, the situation had become so critical that we could have lost the entire remaining part of Artsakh within a few days,” he said, alleging that some failures of the military and political leadership involved deliberate actions.
Beglaryan attributed the loss of Nagorno-Karabakh in 2023 to three factors: the Armenian government’s policies, Russia’s failure to fulfill its security commitments under the 2020 agreement, and what he described as the international community’s failure to prevent the forced displacement of the region’s Armenian population.
He also criticized what he considered insufficient efforts by Armenian authorities to secure the release of Armenians held in Azerbaijan, including prisoners remaining from the 2020 war and former Nagorno-Karabakh officials detained in 2023.
Beglaryan called on Yerevan to pursue their release more actively, arguing that Azerbaijan had failed to comply with its obligations under the ceasefire agreement and international court rulings.
