ArmInfo.The reckless four-day military escapade carried out by Azerbaijan in April 2016 was the epitome of Baku's years-long belligerent policy and ideology, said Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan during a meeting AT THE CARNEGIE CENTER, on February 28
"It dealt a heavy blow to the NK peace process. Azerbaijani aggression proved once again that the struggle of the people of Artsakh for living safely on their own land and be free has no alternative. This is not an opinion, but the reality created and imposed on us by Azerbaijan's policy. There are strictly defined agreements reached in Vienna and Saint Petersburg after the April war, related to upholding of the unlimited tri-party ceasefire agreements of 1994-1995 and on the creation in the conflict zone of the mechanisms to investigate violations of the ceasefire regime. However, Azerbaijan, true to its long- standing tradition, refuses to implement these agreements and declares that their implementation will allegedly reinforce the existing status quo in Nagorno Karabakh", noted Sargsyan. He added that if Azerbaijan is really concerned about the status quo in Nagorno-Karabakh, there is only one way to change it, by recognizing the right of people of Karabakh to self-determination.
According to Armenian leader, "It would be naive to assume that Azerbaijan was unaware of the heavy blow it dealt to the peace process, to reinforcing the status quo, to pushing pack the peace process. Obviously, Baku is using the Nagorno Karabakh conflict to divert the attention and rising discontent within its own society related to the pressing social and economic issues and blatant violations of human rights in the country. For that very reason, Baku recently stated that Nagorno Karabakh was its "internal affair." It has been for years that the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, namely France, Russia and the US, who form the agreed international format, have been mediating the Nagorno Karabakh issue. Someone in Baku might have had a bad dream and based on that deluded himself that these three major international actors have put aside their own complicated issues and suddenly chose to engage in Azerbaijan's "internal affair. The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, as mediators, are also called upon to prevent possible escalation in the area of conflict. Negotiations conducted under the shelling hold no promise", Sargsyan said.
"This was just an episode from the theater of absurd which is being staged in Baku. We encounter it almost on a daily basis. However, sincere outbursts also happen. On one such instance, the leader of Azerbaijan, trying to boost his very significance in front of his subordinates, admitted publicly that at the negotiations behind the closed doors he was under pressure to recognize independence of Nagorno Karabakh, and he was the sole person able to withstand the pressure coming from the Co- Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group", he said.
At the same time he recalled, "The people of Artsakh have voted for the presidential model of governance. As you see, with regard to the system of governance, the positions of Armenia and Nagorno Artsakh differ; however, the resolve to build a democratic system is unwavering. The people of Artsakh have been manifesting that resolve for decades - they formed through the elections their executive, legislative, and local government bodies. The people of Artsakh dream of no other future and are busy with creating a free society based on human rights and basic liberties".