"You don’t know well that Armenians in Artsakh are strong people.': Ruben Vardanian tells BBC

YEREVAN, 23 January. /ARKA/. In an interview with BBC Hard Talk program Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) State Minister Ruben Vardanyan said the people of Artsakh will stay strong and committed to their homeland.

He said no one can imagine how strong Artsakh Armenians are. ‘You don’t know well that the Armenians in Artsakh are strong people. We’ve been living in here thousands of years, and we are strongly committed to stay in our homeland. As I said, for 35 years, we have been fighting and defending our territory; we believe in our values and our system. With all the difficulties we are facing, I believe that people will stay strong and committed to our homeland.'

Asked why he refers to that territory as Artsakh, , while Azerbaijan and the world community refer to it as Nagorno-Karabakh, Vardanyan said if 'you look through the history books in Azerbaijan Soviet Republic of the 1980s, you will find the same name of Artsakh mentioned as Armenian territory.'

On why Russian peacekeepers are not opening the road (the Lachin corridor blockaded by Azerbaijanis since last December 12) , the Artsakh state minister said: 'It’s only 2000 peacekeepers, and they have limited mandate to use weapons, and it’s ecoactivists, and civilians who closed the road, formally. That’s why without delusion, it’s a small contingent of soldiers, only light weapons, and they have no right to shoot. That’s why, for any peacekeepers, it’s always very difficult to interfere between the two sides if the conflict is going on.'

At the same time, the state minister stressed that the Armenian side observes the trilateral statement signed on November 9, 2020 between Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan, which Azerbaijan has completely violated today.

"They guaranteed an open road for Armenians living in Artsakh without any control, and now this is completely violated," he stressed. -0-