Azeris stand no chance of winning new war, Karabakh leader says

Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
12 May 05

[Presenter] The Karabakh cease-fire regime was announced 11 years ago
today. Despite the cease-fire, the situation along the
Armenian-Azerbaijani contact line is still tense.

On the one hand, the Azerbaijani leadership try to assure its people
that they are fighting for the return of the lost lands, on the other
hand, they make belligerent statements demanding that Azerbaijan’s
territorial integrity be restored.

[The president of the Nagornyy Karabakh Republic Arkadiy Gukasyan,
captioned, in trench] If Azerbaijan tries to solve the Karabakh
problem by force, we will all see what will come of it. We must always
be ready for the worst.

We must always be ready for war and this will help us win. I am sure
that the political and military leaders of Azerbaijan know that the
Karabakh army is very strong and they do not stand a chance of
winning.

[Correspondent] The Karabakh side shares the view of international
experts that the cease-fire exist today only for one reason, the
cease-fire agreement was signed by the three conflicting sides,
Armenia, Azerbaijan and Karabakh.

The fragile cease-fire will be transformed into a lasting peace only
if Armenia, Azerbaijan and Karabakh put their signatures to a great
political [peace] agreement.

Narine Agabalyan, “Aylur”, Stepanakert.