Artsakh's existence is a geopolitical imperative, foreign minister says

YEREVAN, January 13. /ARKA/. “The existence of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) is a geopolitical imperative, and that, in itself, means that we have a status. And it doesn't matter that this status has not yet been recognized by the world community. It is recognized indirectly, since there is Artsakh, there are Russian peacekeepers, there is the OSCE Minsk Group, which is engaged in the settlement of the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict,” Artsakh Foreign Minister David Babayan said in an interview with Artsakh Public Television. 

According to Babayan, the issue of the Artsakh status has not yet received a de jure solution, but '“de facto we are here and we exist. We are a self-governing country, an independent country, of course, in terms of all existing developments," he explained. 

Therefore, he said, everything possible should be done to preserve this subjectivity, and according to the situation at the moment this is one of the most important imperatives. 

“The process of international recognition must continue. I am deeply convinced that a number of new elements should be included in it, the strategy and tactics, perhaps, should be revised in a certain way, but this issue has been there and is still there," Babayan said. 

In response to a question of what expectations there are from the talks within the OSCE Minsk Group, taking into account the statements of the President of Azerbaijan that the Karabakh issue has been resolved, Babayan said that Baku has always demonstrated such behavior. 

“We have a different idea. If there is Artsakh, and it is the Artsakh world, albeit wounded, but alive, albeit in the intensive care unit. We must maintain our subjectivity, and that, in itself, will give importance to our place and role. Even in this difficult situation, we are of the utmost importance in world politics, regardless of anything. The existence of Artsakh, in itself, protects the region and global geopolitics from many negative developments," Babayan said. 

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict erupted into armed clashes after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s as the predominantly Armenian-populated enclave of Azerbaijan sought to secede from Azerbaijan and declared its independence backed by a successful referendum. 

On May 12, 1994, the Bishkek cease-fire agreement put an end to the military operations. A truce was brokered by Russia in 1994, although no permanent peace agreement has been signed. Since then, Nagorno-Karabakh and several adjacent regions have been under the control of Armenian forces of Karabakh. Nagorno-Karabakh is the longest-running post-Soviet era conflict. 

In the early hours of April 2, 2016 Azerbaijan, in gross violation of the agreements launched a large-scale offensive along the entire Line of Contact between the armed forces of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and Azerbaijan, using heavy weaponry, artillery and combat aircraft. Only thanks to the decisive actions of the Defense Army, which gave a fitting rebuff, on April 5, Azerbaijan was forced to ask, as in 1994, through the mediation of the Russian Federation for the cessation of the hostilities. It had been generally maintained, despite the recurrent violations by the Azerbaijani side. 

On September 27, 2020, Azerbaijani armed forces, backed by Turkey and foreign mercenaries and terrorists, attacked Nagorno-Karabakh along the entire front line using rocket and artillery weapons, heavy armored vehicles, military aircraft and prohibited types of weapons such as cluster bombs and  phosphorus weapons. 

After 44 days of the war, on November 9, the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a statement on the cessation of all hostilities. According to the document, the parties stopped at where they were at that time. The town of Shushi, the districts of Agdam, Kelbajar and Lachin were handed over to Azerbaijan, with the exception of a 5-kilometer corridor connecting Karabakh with Armenia. 

A Russian peacekeeping contingent was deployed along the contact line in Karabakh and along the Lachin corridor. Internally displaced persons and refugees are returning to Karabakh and adjacent regions, prisoners of war, hostages and other detained persons and bodies of the dead are being exchanged. --0-