ARMINFO News Agency, Armenia
November 13, 2017 Monday


Armenian diplomat: International scale should be given to human
conscience regarding Artsakh

 Yerevan November 13

David Stepanyan. Considering the absence of the need for a radical
change in the Armenian policy regarding the settlement of the Artsakh
problem, in my opinion, the meetings of the Armenian and Azeri
Presidents and Foreign Ministers are certainly necessary. The ex-
Foreign Minister, former Armenian Ambassador to the United States,
Professor of the Fletcher School of Tufts University, Ambassador Ruben
Shugaryan expressed opinion to ArmInfo.

On October 16, following the results of the Geneva meeting with Azeri
President Ilham Aliyev, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan announced
the absence of specific agreements on the resolution of the conflict,
underscoring the agreement on measures to reduce tension, in order to
avoid victims at the front line. Two days after the meeting, an
Armenian serviceman was killed on the front line.

"In other words, the continuation of the negotiation process within
the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group is a must, since it continues to
be an unchallenged institution that allows to keep problems under some
kind of control. The Minsk Group of Co-Chairmen from the countries of
the permanent members of the UN Security Council attaches to the
negotiations in the direction of resolving the conflict the
international level", the diplomat considers.

In the light of changes in the international perception of the problem
of Artsakh, Armenian policy, according to his estimates, needs
additions, but not radical changes. In this context, the diplomat sees
the need to adopt a new approach, which Shugaryan sees in the
humanitarian sphere, the sphere of human rights, and not only the
comparison of the principles of the right of peoples to
self-determination and territorial integrity.

"This international norm - accompanied by recognition and sovereignty,
the secession for the sake of salvation was first applied in Kosovo."
International scale should be given to human conscience regarding
Artsakh, especially after the atrocities against Artsakh Armenians in
April 2016. This is exactly what the foreign policy of Armenia should
be directed to," the diplomat summed up.