Today we live in a society, which can not imagine life without expressing views on social media. Probably it does have certain advantages. Nevertheless, many participants of active discussions have already forgotten or do not even know about the developments, which unfolded in Armenia 5, 10 or 15 years ago.

To fill the gap Mediamax presents 5/10/15 project, which introduce developments in Armenia 5, 10 and 15 years ago.

• 15 YEARS AGO: JULY 8-14, 2004

“All possible solutions have been proposed”

On July 13 OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs held a press briefing in Stepanakert following the meeting with President of Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Arkady Ghukasyan.

Russian co-chair Yuri Merzlyakov noted that “the settlement of the problem must be found by the parties themselves and not imposed from the outside”. He pointed out that “practically all possible solutions you can count on the fingers of one hand have already been proposed by the mediators”. The diplomat added that it was wrong to pin hopes only on mediators. At the same time, Merzlyakov noted that “we are, nevertheless, not passive observers but organizers of the peace process”.

Steven Mann, Yuri Merzlyakov and Henri Jacolin Photo: Photolure

U.S. co-chair Steven Mann said that “the OSCE Minsk Group not only takes into account the positions of all the parties to conflict but is also guided by them”.

According to French co-chair Henri Jacolin, the parties were mistaken to believe that time worked for them. In particular, he said: “The Azeri think they will get rich thanks to the oil and return the territories.” According to him, the maintenance of “neither-peace-nor-war” situation was disadvantageous for everybody, and the longer it stretched, the more difficult it would be to settle the conflict.

Steven Mann, Yuri Merzlyakov, Henri Jacolin and Armenian FM Vartan Oskanyan Photo: Photolure

Touching on the prospects of Nagorno-Karabakh’s full involvement in the negotiations, Yuri Merzlyakov underlined that the talks would include the sides that signed the truce agreement 10 years ago. “The signature of the Nagorno-Karabakh representative stands under the agreement, this means that Nagorno-Karabakh as one of the parties to conflict will take part in the talks,” he said.

• 10 YEARS AGO: JULY 8-14, 2009

“Will define its future through a referendum”

On July 8 Russian Co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Yuri Merzlyakov stated in Yerevan that “the Nagorno-Karabakh population will define its future through a referendum”.

The Russian mediator made that remark in response on the statement of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, who said that separation of Nagorno-Karabakh from Azerbaijan was impossible.

Mathew Bryza, Bernard Fassier and Yuri Merzlyakov Photo: Photolure

“I perceive these words of the Azerbaijani President as a hope that as a result of the voting, the Nagorno-Karabakh population will speak for remaining within Azerbaijan,” said Merzlyakov.

• 5 YEARS AGO: JULY 8-14, 2014

“A repackaged version of denial”

On July 8 President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan stated that “the day Turkey confronts its own history is not far off”.

Serzh Sargsyan meets representatives of the Armenian community of Argentina Photo: Armenian President’s press office

“Thus, the Turkish leaders will release their people from the heavy burden they have been forced to bear for an entire century. I think that the public consciousness, which is gaining a new momentum in Turkey in the person of young and educated generation, which today prefers apology to embarrassing denial, will greatly contribute to it,” he said at the meeting with representatives of the Armenian community of Argentina.

“Thousands of Turks deny the official denial policy and express their solidarity with Armenian people. These developments are overt and they force Turkish authorities into taking certain steps. The Turkish authorities are even speaking of building a “just memory” among Armenians and Turks.

Serzh Sargsyan meets representatives of the Armenian community of Argentina Photo: Armenian President’s press office

However, the next step they take is an attempt to mine the justice by placing an equality mark between the innocent 1.5 million victims, among them mainly elderly people, women and children, and the Turkish soldiers who died in World War I because of the adventures of the criminal leaders of Ottoman Empire. It is not “just” memory. We cannot accept such “justice”. In reality, it’s the renewed, improved and repackaged version of Armenian Genocide denial,” said Sargsyan.

Ara Tadevosyan