Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) Republic President-elect Arayik Harutyunyan has commented on the statement issued by the OSCE Minsk Group Tuesday with respect to the avenues to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. He wrote as follows, in particular, on his Facebook page, News.am reports:

Once again, I would like to reaffirm our principled position on this issue that no effective destination can be reached without the full and complete involvement of Stepanakert.

We are interested in a peaceful and final settlement of the conflict, and we are fully aware that it will have a decisive impact on establishing stable and lasting peace in the region; but we expect the same awareness and responsibility by Azerbaijan, too.

Of course, we appreciate the exceptional role by the authorities of the Republic of Armenia in this matter, but it must be acknowledged that the authorities of the Artsakh Republic have received the primary mandate to negotiate on behalf of the people of Artsakh over any proposal or document submitted to the negotiating table.

Underscoring the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group to the peaceful settlement of the conflict and closely following the videoconferences that took place on April 20 and 21 with the Co-Chairs and the Foreign Ministers separately, and then with the participation of all parties, sadly, we record yet again that the Azerbaijani authorities continue to avoid conducting direct talks with the real party to the conflict. This, combined with repeated provocations on the frontline and anti-Armenian policy, greatly reduces the level of honesty and credibility of aspirations that Baku shows.

The Artsakh authorities, both in the past and in the future, are ready to make maximum effort to show the necessary will in an atmosphere of mutual respect, and to make progress in strengthening trust between the parties and for a peaceful and final settlement of the conflict.

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22.04.2020 11:56