Pashinyan points out guarantees for Karabakh problem resolution
14.02.2020,
13:59
The resolution of the Karabakh conflict can only be associated with security guarantees that are absent, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said Thursday answering a question from Azerbaijani experts at the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Berlin.
YEREVAN, February 14. /ARKA/. The resolution of the Karabakh conflict can only be associated with security guarantees that are absent, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said Thursday answering a question from Azerbaijani experts at the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Berlin.
"Even assuming that some Armenian government should take unilateral actions, this will not solve the problem, but rather aggravate it. Azerbaijan likes to talk about territories, but it’s important to understand that we are talking about security," he said.
Recalling the 2004 killing by an Azerbaijani officer Ramil Safarov of an Armenian officer Gurgen Margaryan in Budapest, the prime minister emphasized that there could be no talk of security if the murderer was not only released in Azerbaijan, but also heroized.
"Accordingly, not Armenia, but Karabakh is not ready to give in to its own security, just as any other country is not ready for such concessions," he said.
The prime minister noted that the "security zone", which is often talked about in Azerbaijan, was created on the basis of this logic.
"Because when civilians were subjected to artillery shelling by Azerbaijanis, civilians, children did not leave the cellars for years. And when it comes to territories, we understand this as security," he said.
Pashinyan also explained his earlier statement “Artsakh is Armenia and that's all,” stressing that he spoke about the guarantee by Armenia of the security of Nagorno-Karabakh.
"We said that we will consider the attack of Azerbaijan on Karabakh as an attack on Armenia. Armenia is the guarantor of the security of Karabakh. And that’s it," he said.
According to the prime minister, over the past year and a half in the negotiation process no constructive steps by Azerbaijan have been noticed, and the establishment of a relative stability was the only achievement.
"I want to assess the situation that we have managed to achieve with President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev since September 2018, when we first met. After this meeting, the tension in the region, on the contact line is unprecedentedly low. And I hope that as a result of constructive discussions we will not
only manage to maintain relatively stable and calm things, but also to move toward a real settlement,” he said.
Karabakh conflict broke out in 1988 when Karabakh, mainly populated by Armenians, declared its independence from Azerbaijan. On December 10, 1991, a few days after the collapse of the Soviet Union, a referendum took place in Nagorno-Karabakh, and the majority of the population (99.89%) voted for secession from Azerbaijan.
Afterwards, large-scale military operations began. As a result, Azerbaijan lost control over Nagorno-Karabakh and the seven regions adjacent to it. Some 30,000 people were killed in this war and about one million people fled their homes.
On May 12, 1994, the Bishkek cease-fire agreement put an end to the military operations. Тalks brokered by OSCE Minsk Group are being held over peaceful settlement of the conflict. The group is co-chaired by USA, Russia and France. -0--
"Even assuming that some Armenian government should take unilateral actions, this will not solve the problem, but rather aggravate it. Azerbaijan likes to talk about territories, but it’s important to understand that we are talking about security," he said.
Recalling the 2004 killing by an Azerbaijani officer Ramil Safarov of an Armenian officer Gurgen Margaryan in Budapest, the prime minister emphasized that there could be no talk of security if the murderer was not only released in Azerbaijan, but also heroized.
"Accordingly, not Armenia, but Karabakh is not ready to give in to its own security, just as any other country is not ready for such concessions," he said.
The prime minister noted that the "security zone", which is often talked about in Azerbaijan, was created on the basis of this logic.
"Because when civilians were subjected to artillery shelling by Azerbaijanis, civilians, children did not leave the cellars for years. And when it comes to territories, we understand this as security," he said.
Pashinyan also explained his earlier statement “Artsakh is Armenia and that's all,” stressing that he spoke about the guarantee by Armenia of the security of Nagorno-Karabakh.
"We said that we will consider the attack of Azerbaijan on Karabakh as an attack on Armenia. Armenia is the guarantor of the security of Karabakh. And that’s it," he said.
According to the prime minister, over the past year and a half in the negotiation process no constructive steps by Azerbaijan have been noticed, and the establishment of a relative stability was the only achievement.
"I want to assess the situation that we have managed to achieve with President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev since September 2018, when we first met. After this meeting, the tension in the region, on the contact line is unprecedentedly low. And I hope that as a result of constructive discussions we will not
only manage to maintain relatively stable and calm things, but also to move toward a real settlement,” he said.
Karabakh conflict broke out in 1988 when Karabakh, mainly populated by Armenians, declared its independence from Azerbaijan. On December 10, 1991, a few days after the collapse of the Soviet Union, a referendum took place in Nagorno-Karabakh, and the majority of the population (99.89%) voted for secession from Azerbaijan.
Afterwards, large-scale military operations began. As a result, Azerbaijan lost control over Nagorno-Karabakh and the seven regions adjacent to it. Some 30,000 people were killed in this war and about one million people fled their homes.
On May 12, 1994, the Bishkek cease-fire agreement put an end to the military operations. Тalks brokered by OSCE Minsk Group are being held over peaceful settlement of the conflict. The group is co-chaired by USA, Russia and France. -0--
