Armenia: Use of force not removing Karabakh self-determination from agenda

PanARMENIAN.Net - Azerbaijan's use of force will not push the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh people's right to self-determination out of the agenda, Armenian Foreign Minister Ara Aivazian told a joint press conference with his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian on Tuesday, December 8.

"The right to self-determination was one of the pillars of the negotiation process, and is impossible to the leave the self-determination issue out of the agenda by the use of force," Aivazian said.

"By launching a military aggression against Artsakh, Azerbaijan and Turkey have violated their international obligations, and Azerbaijan has breached his commitments under the peace process. After September 27, the international community realized that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is not merely a territorial dispute."

Aivazian said Azerbaijan perpetrated war crimes and ethnic cleansing in Karabakh territories that went under its control, "which proves once again the need to address the recognition of Artsakh's right to self-determination."

"Only then, I believe, will it be possible to reach a lasting and fair peace, and only then will it possible to think about peaceful co-existence in the South Caucasus."

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Russian and Azerbaijani Presidents Vladimir Putin and Ilham Aliyev on November 9 signed a statement to end the war in Karabakh after almost 45 days. Under the deal, the Armenian side has returned all the seven regions surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh, having lost a part of Karabakh itself in hostilities.