Armenia’s Security Council Secretary: Nagorno-Karabakh problem not a territorial issue
YEREVAN, August1. /ARKA/. Armenia’s Security Council Secretary Armen Grigoryan said in a last week interview that the Nagorno-Karabakh problem is not a territorial issue for Armenia, saying also options of its settlement should be discussed separately from the Armenian-Azerbaijani relations.
“The security and the rights of the Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians are of paramount importance to us. In one of his speeches in the National Assembly, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan called for separating the Nagorno-Karabakh issue from the Armenian-Azerbaijani relations. Now we have to actively discuss this idea and decide how to act further," Grigoryan said in an interview with the state-run news agency Armenpress.
Grigoryan also commented on statements coming from global ‘political centers’ urging Armenia and Azerbaijan to take advantage of the serious opportunity now to proceed with normalization of their relations and establish lasting peace and stability in the region.
He said the peace agenda declared by the Armenian government is an indication that it sees such an opportunity.
“This possibility becomes even more substantive given that the Armenian government, the political majority is taking responsibility for the implementation of the peace agenda, while understanding that it is not an easy path," Grigoryan said.
He said the roadmap for the implementation of the peace agenda is the delimitation and improvement of border security with Azerbaijan which have already been launched. The second meeting of the Border Delimitation and Security Commission is scheduled for the second half of August in Moscow.
Grigoryan also commented on Azerbaijan's claim that Armenia is delaying the resolution of these issues.
"A meeting of the Commission on Border Delimitation and Security was scheduled for the second half of August at the suggestion of the Azerbaijani side. The Armenian side was ready for a second meeting either in June or July. We have repeatedly expressed our readiness to reopen regional transport links," Grigoryan said.
"We are very interested in reopening regional communications, which is part of the Armenian Crossroads project. Of course, the question of the specific route of the East-West section of the project can be discussed, we have never insisted on just one option, and we need to find the most efficient route, because the functionality and attractiveness of the Armenian Crossroads project depends on it," Grigoryan said.
"The culmination of the road map and peace agenda is, of course, the signing of the peace treaty with Azerbaijan. You know that Azerbaijan presented five points on this, and the Republic of Armenia said that they were acceptable with some amendments," Grigoryan said.
"Armenia recognizes the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan at least by virtue of the fact that it is part of our legislation. We have repeatedly said that Armenia and Azerbaijan recognized each other's territorial integrity and inviolability of borders by the CIS formation treaty, signed and subsequently ratified in 1991. And today this document is part of the legislation of both Armenia and Azerbaijan. This needs to be expressed at the bilateral level as well. And as we said, there is nothing unacceptable for us in such a perspective, and Armenia, yes, has no territorial claims against Azerbaijan," Grigoryan said.
He also touched on the status of Karabakh, as well as the possibility of signing a peace agreement with Azerbaijan without a final solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh issue.
"There is also such an idea. But at the moment it is too early to talk about any such formula," Grigoryan said.
As for security guarantees for the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh, he noted that there is an international guarantee of security - the presence of peacekeeping forces of the Russian Federation. We need to work to further improve this guarantee, but the demilitarization of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue is an important idea. Grigoryan said Armenia is moving toward signing a peace treaty with Azerbaijan.
"The resolution of humanitarian issues is a necessary concomitant element of the peace agenda. This includes the preservation of the Armenian cultural heritage in Nagorno-Karabakh. All these issues certainly need to be resolved. By the way, over the past two years Armenia handed over to Azerbaijan 130 bodies of Azerbaijanis who went missing in the first Karabakh war. We are ready to actively cooperate in this issue too and expect the same from Azerbaijan. There are over 770 Armenians missing since the first Karabakh war and another 203 went missing in the 2020 war," Grigoryan said. -0-
