‘SARGSYAN CLEARLY RESPONDED TO AZERBAIJAN’S DESTRUCTIVE STATEMENTS’: SHARMAZANOV

Tert.am
15:47 11.02.10

RA President Serzh Sargsyan’s strongly worded speech in London is a
historical one that a serious political figure and a leader in region
could make as it sent clear messages to the international community,
ruling Republican Party of Armenia spokesperson Eduard Sharmazanov
told Tert.am today.

"The president clearly responded to the destructive statements by
Azerbaijan’s political elite, saying that the Republic of Nagorno
Karabakh was never a part of Azerbaijan and cannot be so, since
Azerbaijan, as a country that safeguards ethnic minorities’ autonomous
status, is depleted. A vivid example is Nakhijevan where not a single
Armenian remained, and numerous cross-stones were destroyed," said
Sharmazanov.

In his words, the president clearly mentioned that Karabakh has
nothing to do with Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and that the
Republic of Nagorno Karabakh has a right to independence much the
same way that Azerbaijan seceded from the Soviet Union.

"The president sends clear messages stressing the fact that we are
adherents of peaceful developments; we have not instigated a war and
we will not do so," said he.

Sharmazanov, pointing to a report by the Freedom House, said that the
president once again confirmed the well-known fact that Karabakh is
a more developed and more democratic country than Azerbaijan.