13:19,
YEREVAN, JUNE 13, ARMENPRESS. The contradictions between Armenia and Azerbaijan over unblocking are technical, Speaker of Parliament Alen Simonyan has said.
“There is a common understanding over this issue, but there are technical disagreements. The main red line in Azerbaijan’s position is that they argue that their citizens, while traveling from Baku to Nakhijevan, are not moving from Azerbaijan to a third country and in their perception this implies a facilitated option. Our stance is that we are in favor of unblocking of all roads, and if we talk about peace we shouldn’t put forward strong preconditions and cause tension, or create a war situation, because in such situation that road would be meaningless. It would be good if the Azerbaijani side understood this all,” Simonyan told reporters.
Simonyan also commented on clause 9 of the 9 November 2020 trilateral statement which says that Russian border guards shall exercise control over transport connection from Azerbaijan to Nakhijevan. He said that Armenia has its sovereign territory where laws of Armenia are enforced.
“If at some point Armenia were to consider outsourcing any of its functions to the bodies of another country, then that would be its own internal issue, but at this moment there is no decision or discussion on that issue,” Simonyan said.
He added that Armenia displayed its will and emphasized that it will not grant any extraterritorial corridor through its territory.
“It seems that this has been understood, that no such thing was planned or talked about. Although some tried to manipulate and claim that Prime Minister Pashinyan had promised something. It is obvious that there is no such thing, because even the President of Russia spoke about this, and it’s clear that this wording is no longer present in the Azerbaijani rhetoric,” the Speaker said.
The Speaker of Parliament also denied the Azerbaijani Deputy Prime Minister Shahin Mustafayev’s claim that Russia will control the roads to Nakhijevan in Armenian territory. Simonyan said there is no such decision and that the negotiations are ongoing as the parties try to bring their positions closer.
“If Azerbaijan wants the Russian side to control the entry, then Armenia could also want some representation of a third country to control the entry to Azerbaijan, because border unblocking is a mutual process. If the Azerbaijanis should travel to Nakhijevan through Armenian territory, it means that the citizens of Armenia shall also be able to travel to Russia or any other country through Azerbaijani territory. The conditions must be the same, and our position over this issue is unequivocal,” Simonyan said.
Speaker Simonyan ruled out anything being imposed upon Armenia because Armenia’s authorities are legitimately elected. “If the authorities of Armenia were not elected authorities, then perhaps there could be coercion. Armenia is having big successes in its democracy levels, and from now on the world is viewing this all as an attack on democracy. Yes, we have our mistakes, and not everything is perfect, but the progress is obvious, the government’s will to resolve and correct the existing problems is obvious. This all can’t go without a response,” he said.
