Artsakhpress

Interview

I am convinced that Russia respects the format of the OSCE Minsk Group. Artsakh should have a status. Artsakh NA Speaker

Artsakh NA Speaker Artur Tovmasyan gave an interview to 1in.am.

I am convinced that Russia respects the format of the OSCE Minsk Group. Artsakh should have a status. Artsakh NA Speaker

I am convinced that Russia respects the format of the OSCE Minsk Group. Artsakh should have a status. Artsakh NA Speaker
STEPANAKERT, JULY 27, ARTSAKHPRESSThe interview is presented below:
- Mr. Tovmasyan, the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev once again referred to the issue of the status of Karabakh, he said that the conflict is over and there is no such issue. How will you comment this statement?
 - Yes, the President of Azerbaijan has once again said that there is no Karabakh, that the conflict has been resolved. He says that he and the Russian President discussed the post-war situation in the region, including the issue of the Zangezur corridor. He notes that he and Russian President Putin have no disagreement over the approaches. The Azerbaijani army, meanwhile, continues not only to threaten Artsakh, but also to strengthen its position on the Armenian border.
Of course, the issue of Artsakh's status is not decided by Aliyev's statements. This issue must be decided within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group. I said that the OSCE Minsk Group should take bolder steps, that is, resume the negotiations that existed before the bloody 44-day war of 2020. The President of Azerbaijan does not return to the negotiation process because he is convinced that in case of the resuming the negotiation, the Azerbaijan has few trump cards.
Aliyev is doing his best for leading the process to a deadlock and preventing the resumption of the negotiations. All this must be taken into account by the OSCE Minsk Group. There was a local Armenian-Azerbaijani war in Tavush, but the three wars - 1992-1994, "April 2016" and the 2020 War were in Artsakh.
 If during the first Artsakh War, Azerbaijan had purely moral support from Turkey, in the April 2016 war, Turkish officers died in the direction of Akna (Aghdam). And during the 2020 War, the President of Turkey announced that the OSCE Minsk Group has not been able to resolve this issue peacefully for about 30 years; in his words, the issue should have been resolved by military means. The third Artsakh war was not with Azerbaijan, but with Turkey and mercenaries. Israel also took part in the war indirectly in the form of UAVs.
- The impression is that the issue of the status of Artsakh is not a priority for Russia? What role will Moscow play in this issue?
 - I am convinced that the Russian Federation respects the format of the OSCE Minsk Group. In other words, Artsakh must have a clear status and it must be decided in the negotiations under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group. I think that the issue of the status and the return of the forcibly displaced people, the issue of the occupied territories and the cultural genocide against Artsakh should be discussed.
 - When will this issue become a subject of discussion?
- We are not inventing a new bicycle. It has been a subject of discussion since 1994. And Azerbaijan has never raised the issue of cultural genocide, because the territories that were under our control, we have renovated at least one of the mosques there with state funds. We consider it a Persian mosque.
- What is the nature of the current provocations of Azerbaijan? Are large-scale actions possible?
- There has been nothing to worry about Artsakh yet, and what is happening in the border regions of Armenia, that question should be asked to the Armenian authorities.
 Mr. Tovmasyan, please refer to the visit of the ambassadors of a number of countries to Shushi and to the fact that the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing countries were not on this list. Was this a message to Baku?
- All the ambassadors who have visited Shushi and other territories occupied by Azerbaijan have left a bad impression on the people of Artsakh. Our people believe that with that they justified the aggression of Turkey, Azerbaijan and terrorists. We are against it and condemn any such visit. Of course, we also appreciate the non-participation of the ambassadors of Russia, France and the United States in this so-called event.
The position of these three countries is morally and politically correct. The visit of the Greek ambassador is especially incomprehensible. You know that in Northern Cyprus, the President of Turkey announced that Azerbaijan will soon recognize the independence of Northern Cyprus. I should mention that all the factions of the Artsakh National Assembly condemned the ambassadors' visit to the occupied territories.

     

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