The process and outcomes of delimitation and demarcation of the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan cannot affect the current and future status of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), Artsakh’s State Minister Artak Beglaryan said on Friday, responding to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s remarks.
“The process and results of delimitation and demarcation with the Republic of Armenia cannot affect the current and future status of Artsakh (the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic),” he said in a Telegram post.
"In the end, the Karabakh conflict is not a conflict with the Republic of Armenia, but with the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic."
The minister stresses the Karabakh conflict has not been resolved, which the whole agrees to, regardless of “certain differences in interests”.
“If Azerbaijan wants to turn the page of the conflict and clarify the status of Artsakh, it can carry out a process of delimitation and demarcation also with the Artsakh Republic, returning the occupied territories and recognizing its independence,” Beglaryan said.
The basic principle of the conflict settlement is the full realization of peoples' right to self-determination, he underscored.
"Only by passing this test will the international community prove that, contrary to Aliyev's claims, there is international law which the right of peoples to self-determination is a key part of," the minister said.
Another important principle of international law is non-use of force or threat of force, which has also been blatantly violated and ignored by Azerbaijan, Beglaryan added.
"Aliyev again threatened with new precedents of the use of force, which is a clear signal to the international community to take preventive and punitive measures. Encouraging or ignoring deviant behavior leads to international disasters, becoming an international practice and a part of customary law," he said.