Author: Zhanna Nahapetian

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Wednesday said that neither Armenia nor Artsakh want war, but warned that “no one can threaten the Republic of Armenia and Republic of Artsakh with war.”

Pashinyan was speaking at a joint cabined parliament session, during which he said that Azerbaijan continued to attempt to pull the resolution of the Karabakh conflict out of the constructive atmosphere of negotiations.

”I have always said that we should not forget that the war is not over and it can break out at any moment and escalations of the situation can happen any moment. It’s obvious for me that Azerbaijan simply wants to use the tool which it used for a long time—I mean making efforts to pull the [conflict] resolution issue from the constructive atmosphere of negotiations. Azerbaijan has been using this tool for a long time and Armenia has had to resist it, including by raising the combat readiness of the Armed Forces,” said Pashinyan highlighting the necessity of installing investigative mechanisms for ceasefire violations.

There is no meeting during which the issue of having Artsakh return to the negotiating table is not discussed, Pashinyan said in response to a question from Aram Abovyan, a member of the opposition Prosperous Armenia Party.

Pashinyan also told lawmakers that the Karabakh talks were continuing and pointed to the upcoming meeting on Thursday between Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers in Washington, saying that “all the issues impeding the process of negotiations will be raised there.”

“Armenia and Karabakh are capable of protecting their interests in the diplomatic arena and, if necessary, on the border. We have proved this and will continue to prove it,” said Pashinyan who added that Armenia and Azerbaijan have discussed who has violated the ceasefire regime and how and that Armenia has facts.

Armenia’s Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan told Parliament on Thursday that that without Artsakh’s “decisive voice” there will be no progress in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution process, adding that returning Stepanakert to the negotiations table is a matter of principle.

Mnatsakanyan also said that the cooperation between the governments of Armenia and Artsakh has been and remains principled and effective.

“We are always working with the Artsakh government. Before or after each negotiation we always work with Artsakh’s leadership. I personally have very close cooperation with my colleague [Artsakh Foreign Minister] Masis Mayilyan and also with [Artsakh] President Bako Sahakian, as does Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan,” said Mnatsakanyan.

“We have a clear format of closely working together, which reflects the political line that is drawn by our government and refers to Artsakh’s participation in the negotiations process. The issue of Artsakh’s participation is a difficult, but principled, and important,” explained Mnatsakanyan.

“The issue concerns Artsakh, which is an entity, and without Artsakh’s decisive voice we will not have productive progress. Our cooperation with Artsakh’s authorities has been and remains very principled and productive,” Mnatsakanyan said.

Asked about the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs’ view regarding the suggestion to include Artsakh itself in Karabakh talks, Mnatsakanyan saud the “co-chairs accept what will be acceptable for the parties. We don’t have a debate over this issue with the co-chairs, the debate is with Azerbaijan.”

Mnatsakanyan also said that a date for an upcoming meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov will be announced soon, adding that there were no immediate plans for a meeting between Pashinyan and Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev.

A group of Belgian lawmakers called for Artsakh’s participation in the Karabakh peace talks. In a statement issued Sunday on the 25th anniversary of the Karabakh cease fire, the group of mainly French-speaking legislators from Belgium, who are part of the Artskah Friendship Group of the Flemish parliament, also lamented at the fact that there has not been any tangible progress in the talks.

“The Agreement of May 12, 1992 put an end to the bloody war unleashed against the people of Artsakh who struggled to live free and in dignity in their ancestral homeland. The fragile peace established by the Agreement prevented further human losses and laid the foundations for peace talks aimed at finding a just and lasting solution to the conflict,” said the statement, which was distributed by the Arstsakh Foreign Ministry.

At the same time, the lawmakers expressed regret that no tangible progress has been achieved toward adopting a comprehensive agreement on establishing lasting peace over the last 25 years, “as evidenced by the resumption of the large-scale hostilities unleashed against Artsakh by Azerbaijan in April 2016.”

“We are convinced that a genuine peace process that bears fruits requires a direct dialogue with the people of Artsakh and the full-fledged participation of the Nagorno-Karabakh authorities – one of the signatories of the Ceasefire Agreement, in the negotiation process,” said the statement, in which the lawmakers stress that the conflict must be resolved peacefully.

“There is no alternative to a peaceful solution to the conflict. Curbing bellicose rhetoric, hate-speech and putting in place confidence-building, such as OSCE investigative mechanism to prevent ceasefire violations, which the Armenian side has accepted, and promoting people-to-people contacts are an essential prerequisite,” added the statement.