ArmInfo. Today's Artsakh state borders are not beyond its historical limits. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Artsakh Masis Mailyan stated this in an interview with the Sharg newspaper, answering the question whether it is possible that when signing a peace agreement with Baku, Artsakh will lose most of its cities, which in its turn will not exclude the absence of common borders with Iran in future.
"I would like to note that a number of Artsakh territories, for example, Shahumyan district, part of Martakert and Martuni districts, which make up about 15% of the republic, have been occupied by Azerbaijan to this day. Territories under the jurisdiction of Artsakh are secured by a constitution adopted through a general referendum that reflects the will of our people, that is, both in the capital Stepanakert, and on the left bank of Artsakh, the same law, the same legislative field, and there are no differences," Mailyan said.
To clarify whether this position corresponds to the spirit of the negotiations held within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group, the Artsakh Foreign Minister noted that the key to the settlement of the conflict for the three parties is the status of the territories and Artsakh, as well as the issues of refugees, security, and the Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia deblockades, which the parties periodically put forward as negotiable subjects. "In general, as regards the negotiations and prospects for the achievement of a long- term peace, I can say that the negotiation process already has its own history." Negotiations on the settlement of the conflict within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group started in 1992 and went through different stages recognized by the OSCE Minsk Group as a conflicting party, that is, in the documents of the structure it is clearly emphasized that three parties are involved in the conflict - two states of the OSCE member and the third party is Artsakh, which is of great importance," he said.
He also recalled that until 1997 classic, full-fledged talks were held in a trilateral format, and then significant progress in the negotiations was recorded - the signing of indefinite ceasefire agreements and its strengthening from 1994-95, under which the signature of Artsakh stands. However, according to him, since 1997 the negotiation format has been distorted, without the direct participation of Nagorno-Karabakh, which has a negative impact on the settlement. "Today, in the classical sense of the negotiation process as such, there is, as it was, for example, until 1997. Beginning in 1997, the mediators use the" shuttle diplomacy "method - they work with the parties to agree on a number of principles, based on but this process is difficult, and in April 2016 Azerbaijan unleashed a war that seriously damaged the peace process and distanced the prospects for a final settlement of the conflict. The main task today is to preserve peace and a hundred ilnosti in the region and major efforts of the mediators aimed precisely at this," concluded Mailyan.