Serzh Sargsyan says, Armenia is ready to respond adequately to any attempt to use force

Armenian President, Serzh Sargsyan, who is on a working visit to Brussels, touched upon the Karabakh conflict issue during his speech at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Brussels Office. As he stressed, Armenia, as a guarantor of Nagorno-Karabakh’s security, is ready to adequately respond to any attempts to use force on part of Azerbaijan. New attempts to engage in a military adventure can have unpredictable consequences even for Azerbaijan itself.

According to the Armenian President, a 4-day war in 2016 was the epitome of Baku’s years-long belligerent policy and propaganda, which considerably affected the conflict resolution process. “Azerbaijan’s aggression has once again proved: there is no alternative to the Artsakh people’s struggle for safe and free living on their own land. It’s not an opinion, but rather a reality, formed as a result of Azerbaijan’s pursued policy that has been imposed on us.”

President Sargsyan noted that Azerbaijan, which is loyal to its long-standing tradition, keeps avoiding fulfillment of the agreements reached at the meetings in Vienna and St. Petersburg following the April war, claiming that compliance with those commitments will allegedly lead to consolidation of the established status quo in Nagorno-Karabakh: “If Azerbaijan is truly concerned about changing the status quo in Nagorno-Karabakh, there is only one way to change it: to recognize the right of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh to self-determination.”

In the Armenian President’s opinion, Baku is using Karabakh conflict to divert public attention from domestic problems-fast-growing discontent with the aggravated socio-economic situation and blatant violations of human rights in the country.  Though, there are outbursts of sincerity from time to time:

“On one such instance, Azerbaijani leader, trying to boost his very significance in front of his subordinates, publicly admitted that at the behind the closed door talks he was under pressure to recognize the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh, and he was the only person able to withstand the pressure coming from the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs. The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, as mediators, are also called upon to prevent possible escalation in the conflict area. Negotiations held amidst shelling hold no promise.”

The President stressed that both, Artsakh and Armenia, are in principle against use of force and stand for timely resolution of the Karabakh conflict through peace talks.

The opinions expressed in the article convey the author’s views and terminology and do not necessarily reflect the position of the editorial staff