Disbanding the Artsakh Defense Army would be unrealistic give Azerbaijan’s ongoing aggression and threats, the Artsakh foreign minister, Sergey Ghazaryan said during a press conference in Yerevan on Thursday.
Ghazaryan was asked to respond to President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan, who on Wednesday again reported to threats and called for the immediate disbanding and disarming of the Artsakh Defense Army.
Those who are familiar with the Nagorno Karabakh conflict know that the Defense Army is the most important factor ensuring the security of the population of Nagorno Karabakh, Ghazarya explained.
“Seeing the growing aggressive actions, provocation and aggressive rhetoric by Azerbaijan, discussing the issue of disbanding the Defense Army or the state system – which Azerbaijan is also demanding as a precondition — would definitely be unrealistic,” Ghazaryan added.
In addressing the ongoing Lachin Corridor blockade, Ghazaryan called on the Russian peacekeepers to act more resolutely to end the road closure.
“The situation in Artsakh is getting more difficult every day. Therefore, the Russian peacekeepers, who are there on the ground, must make every effort within their jurisdiction, especially since the most important goal of the Azerbaijani provocations is to discredit the peacekeeping mission,” Ghazaryan said.
The Artsakh Foreign Minister also said that he and his country have lost hope for any significant international mission, for which they have been calling since the beginning of the blockade, to take action.
Yet he said that Artsakh is interested in dialogue with Baku that are governed by certain standards and norms.
Ghazaryan said, however, that dialogue cannot take place as long as the Lachin Corridor remains blockaded.
“We have been receiving various offers to organize such meetings from representatives of various countries, and international organizations. But there are some elements that should be taken into account. Such meetings took place on February 24 and March 1 with mediation of Russian peacekeepers in their deployment base. Technical issues were discussed during that meetings, but the Azerbaijani side entirely distorted the outcome of the meetings and misrepresented them as the launch of talks on reintegration,” Ghazaryan said, noting that this was followed by the March 5 ambush when Azerbaijani troops shot and killed three police officers in Artsakh.
“We firmly believe that negotiations conducted under pressure cannot be called dialogue or negotiations. As long as the road is closed there won’t be dialogue under such conditions. The other side must also show that it is ready for dialogue, but if they are blocking the road, how should we understand that the Azerbaijani side is ready for dialogue?,” wondered Ghazaryan.
“Regular discussions are taking place about new dialogue. The Artsakh side on numerous occasion has invited the Azerbaijan side offers to meet through the Russian peacekeepers, but the offers were turned down by the Azerbaijani side itself,” Ghazaryan explained.
