The four-day war unleashed by Azerbaijan in April 2016 was the was the reflections of Baku’s long-term belligerent policy and propaganda, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said, speaking at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
“It caused a great harm to the  conflict settlementprocess. Azerbaijan’s aggression came to confirm that there is no alternative to the Artsakh people’s struggle to live in safety and freedom on their own land. This is not an opinion, but a reality imposed on us as a result of Azerbaijani policy,” President Sargsyan said.
President Sargsyan blamed Azerbaijan for the failure to implement the agreements reached at Vienna and St. Petersburg summits. “If Azerbaijan is truly interested in changing the status quo, there is one way to do this – recognize the right of the people of Nagorno Karabakh to self-determination,” he said.
The President said Baku apparently uses the Karabakh conflict to solve issues inside the country – to divert attention from pressing social-economic problems and the growing discontent with the gross violations of human rights.
Serzh Sargsyan stressed that “both Armenia and Artsakh stand against use of force and support the peaceful settlement of the conflict through negotiations.” “New attempts of military adventurism on the part of Azerbaijan are fraught with unpredictable consequences for Azerbaijan itself. Armenia, as a guarantor of Artsakh’s security, has said on many occasions that it is ready to give an adequate response to any attempt of use of force,” he noted.
“Despite Azerbaijan’s continuous threats, the people of Artsakh continue to build their future,” the President said.
He emphasized that Artsakh shares equal rights with the democratic world to enjoy all universal Freedoms, President Sargsyan said, adding that “Artsakh is better aware of the cost of living in freedom and has paid for it with the blood of its sons.”
“While Artsakh is taking decisive steps towards a stronger democracy, its neighbor Azerbaijan is taking steps to ensure full dictatorship with power inherited from generation to generation,” President Sargsyan stated.