YEREVAN. – The Armenian side should continue its stern policy in connection with the Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) conflict. 

Vice President of the National Assembly of Armenia, Eduard Sharmazanov, noted the abovementioned at a press conference on Wednesday.

He recorded that the conflict has entered a new phase, as Azerbaijan refuses the Vienna and Saint Petersburg agreements, periodically aggravates the situation, and uses its own population as a human shield.

In this connection, Sharmazanov stated that the Armenian side should continue its stern policy, and the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries (Russia, US, and France) need to seek avenues for convincing—or pressuring—Azerbaijan into implementing the said agreements.

“The problem shall be resolved pacifically, within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group, based on the three well-known precepts,” he stressed. “[But] the precept of territorial integrity has nothing to do with the conflict in general, since Karabakh was not part of independent Azerbaijan for a single second.”

Also, the deputy speaker of the Armenian parliament pointed to the role of Turkish political elite, especially of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in the aggravation of the Karabakh conflict.