ArmInfo. Joining the Council of Europe, Armenia undertook to settle the Karabakh conflict exclusively by peaceful action. This was stated by the President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan from the rostrum of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
He stressed that Armenia has never reconciled with the arbitrary transfer of Artsakh to Azerbaijan under Stalin's rule. According to him, over these years, Baku has done everything to evict Armenians from their native land. However, the president stressed, in 1988 the people of Artsakh rebelled against the xenophobic policy of Baku, trying peacefully to realize their right to self-determination. "Baku's response was the massacre of Armenians in Sumgait, everyone who is somehow involved in the Karabakh conflict settlement must realize this," Sargsyan said, stressing that it is for this reason that every attempt to equate the sides of the conflict is doomed to failure. "This is a false objectivity, in the same way an attempt is made to equate the victim with a rapist," the Armenian leader said, emphasizing that the massacre of Armenians in Azerbaijan became a state policy - Baku declared war on Armenians to purge Artsakh of the indigenous people. In the current situation, as Sargsyan noted, the people of Artsakh had no choice but to start a struggle for self-defense.
At the same time, the Armenian leader stressed that he considers the moment of full settlement of the Karabakh conflict urgent. To this end, he said, it is necessary to observe the ceasefire and implement the agreements reached, which Baku constantly refuses. "The decision must be peaceful and just, based on mutual compromises and equal responsibility of the parties," Sargsyan said, recalling that the OSCE Minsk Group is the only internationally recognized mediation format for the settlement of the problem.
He also recalled the April aggression of Azerbaijan, which reminded the massacres of Armenians in Sumgait. Sargsyan also stressed that the maximalist and unrealistic aspirations of Baku torpedo the negotiations. "If the international community helps to bring Azerbaijan back to reality, I think that we will be able to achieve tangible success in a short time." This conflict hinders the development of our peoples, "he stressed.
The RA President noted with regret that the PACE also recorded processes that do not take into account all the nuances of the Karabakh conflict, and pouring water to the mill of those who are not interested in a peaceful settlement of the problem. "This can have irreversible consequences for the fragile peace in the conflict zone," the president said.
He stressed that, despite all this, Artsakh continues to build a democratic state with the assistance of Armenia, which will always be on the protection of the security of the NKR. "I hope that the day is near, when this structure will arise next to Artsakh, the Artsakh people deserved it," Sargsyan assured, adding that Artsakh unilaterally ratified the European Convention on Human Rights. It is noteworthy, the president stressed, that Artsakh implemented all these democratic reforms on its own, without the assistance of international structures, which is doubly commendable. "Artsakh can not be isolated from international processes only because Azerbaijan does not want it, where human rights are totally violated," Sargsyan said.
Referring to the verdicts of the European Court of Human Rights, one way or another related to the Karabakh conflict and instituted on the claims of Azerbaijani citizens, Sargsyan noted that the political formulations and assessments of these verdicts could negatively affect the negotiation process. "And according to this, the ECtHR must be extremely correct in its wording," the Armenian leader summed up.