Until now, we have not stated that there are Azerbaijani enclaves on the territory of Armenia. Pashinyan
During the Parliament-Government Q&A Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that the Armenian side has not yet stated that Azerbaijani enclaves exist de jure on the territory of Armenia.
“This question arose when the message said: “the connection between Azerbaijan and Azerbaijan and the connection between Armenia and Armenia”. And the question arose, what is this connection between Armenia and Armenia? The Secretary of the Security Council noted that we are talking, for example, about a railway connection between Yeraskh and Meghri. Of course, we have a highway through Armenia from Meghri to all parts of Armenia, but the railway is only about that,” Pashinyan said.
As for the enclaves, the Prime Minister assured that such an issue, as such, was not discussed in Brussels. However, he stressed that Azerbaijan raises this issue by hint or directly in a variety of formats.
“And our position here is transparent and public. We said that in all these processes we should delve into the legal grounds. And we said that so far our research has not recorded that Azerbaijani enclaves exist de jure on the territory of the Republic of Armenia, on the contrary, we have recorded that Artsvashen is de jure the territory of the Republic of Armenia,” Pashinyan.
MP of the ‘Civil Contract’ faction Sona Ghazaryan asked Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan what works were being carried out in the direction of returning the prisoners of war (POWs) and other detainees through international mediation.
The Prime Minister first mentioned that this was one of the main topics discussed in Brussels a few days ago. “The position of the European Union and international organizations is that our captive compatriots should be returned as soon as possible. That is our position, and we try to make every effort to solve the problem as soon as possible.
Azerbaijan is constantly trying to connect the return of our captives, hostages and other detainees to additional conditions, but we do not agree with that position. Our position remains the same that according to the trilateral statement of November 9, all prisoners of war, detainees and hostages must be returned.
Unfortunately, we have 39 captives confirmed so far, one of whom has recently got lost and appeared in the territory under the control of the Azerbaijanis. We make every effort, but I must say that the most effective way is to provide the support and pressure of the international community, so that our citizens to return to the Homeland as soon as possible,” Pashinyan said.
As a result of the meeting of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, the President of the European Council Charles Michel and the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev in Brussels, no agreement was reached between the Armenian and Azerbaijani sides over the formulations on Nagorno Karabakh conflict, and the President of the European Council decided to make comments that, in his opinion, would express as many elements as possible about the positions of both sides over formulations, ARMENPRESS reports Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan said, answering the question of MP from Civil Contract Party Arman Yeghoyan.
The MP quoted the statement of the President of the European Council Charles Michel after the meeting in Brussels, saying “I also stressed to the two leaders that it is necessary to address the rights and security of the ethnic Armenian population of Karabakh.”
According to Yeghoyan, these words have been interpreted differently in the Armenian media. “It was speculated that this means that Artsakh’s right to self-determination remains out of the agenda, that the EU does not consider the possibility of a separate status for Artsakh, this is a step back from the agenda of the OSCE Minsk Group,” Yeghoyan said.
Pashinyan reminded that at least two of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chair countries welcomed and supported those talks and discussions. The Prime Minister reminded that the bilateral statement with the Russian President, which is also an OSCE Minsk Group Co-chair country, noted the importance of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement and the use of the potential of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs’ format for that.
“A very serious discussion on the Karabakh issue took place in Brussels, and as a result of that discussion, the differences between the positions of Armenia and Azerbaijan were registered,” the Prime Minister said.
He emphasized that those differences are expressed publicly. Azerbaijan considers that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is resolved, Armenia considers that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is not resolved.
“And in the possible context of the peace talks, you know that Azerbaijan has presented its 5 principles, and we have presented our observations and agenda in this regard. We have said that talks should be held on that basis. With the principles we have brought forward, the security and rights of the Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh and the clarification of the final status of Nagorno-Karabakh are recorded. And since as a result of the discussions no agreement was reached between the parties, the President of the Council of Europe decided to make comments that, in his opinion, would reflect as many elements as possible from the positions of both sides. And since as a result of the discussions no agreement was reached between the parties, the President of the European Council decided to make comments that, in his opinion, would reflect as many elements as possible from the positions of both sides. It’s another question how accurate it was. We have expressed our positions, of course, there are no changes in those positions. And we will continue to consistently follow that path,” Pashinyan said.
There is no consensus on the works of the Co-chairs, but the rumors about the “death” of the format are exaggerated. FM
There is no consensus over continuing the work, talks of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs on Nagorno Karabakh, first of all by Azerbaijan, but the rumors about the “death” of the Co-Chairs format are a bit exaggerated, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan said during the parliament-Cabinet Q&A session.
MP Vahagn Khachaturyan inquired if there is any consensus on the mandate and works of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs’ format, what’s the future of that format and what’s being done to start talks on NK issue in the sidelines of the format.
“Due to the war in Ukraine, the work of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, to put it mildly, is not active. In general, it can be stated that there were no visible works in that framework. Prior to that, Azerbaijan was the country that rejected the proposal, need to continue the talks on the format of the Minsk Group Co-Chairs. But after the war in Ukraine, there was some disagreement also between the Co-chairs. We, undoubtedly, see the place of negotiations for the political settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in the platform of OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs”, Mirzoyan said.
He assured that the Armenian side constantly talks about this, works in this direction with all international partners, first of all, with the Co-chairs. “And I am happy to state that recently, you might have noticed that the Co-chair countries are reaffirming their commitment to continue working in that format,” Mirzoyan said.
According to him, this can be seen in the joint statement of Prime Minister Pashinyan and Russian President Vladimir Putin after the last meeting, and in the statement made after his visit to the US by US Secretary of State Blinken, in the statement made by his French counterparts.
Referring to the issue, the Foreign Minister said that to say that there is a consensus on this issue would be an exaggeration. “There is no consensus, first of all, through Azerbaijan’s efforts. However the rumors about the ‘death’ of this format are also a bit exaggerated,” Mirzoyan said.
Pashinyan stressed that no one can, nor is going to sign any document behind the back of the people of Armenia and Artsakh. President of Artsakh
Russia is ready to assist bilateral commission on delimitation of Armenian-Azerbaijani border: Zakharova |1lurer.am|
