Saturday, April 7 2018 15:37

ArmInfo.Armenia has always been in favor of changing the status quo in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesman Tigran Balayan stated  this in a conversation with ArmInfo correspondent, referring to the accusations of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev against Armenia about the unwillingness to change the status quo.

He recalled that the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group made specific  proposals aimed at changing the status quo. "And the side that not  only does not accept these proposals, but also does everything to  torpedo the negotiation process and all the agreements reached,  including during the meetings with Aliev's participation, is  responsible for the immutability of the status quo. And you do not  need to be a successful expert or a political scientist to understand  this logical connection, "the spokesman for the Armenian Foreign  Ministry said.

Commenting on Aliyev's statement that Armenia only mimics the  negotiation process, Balayan called for logic and analysis of the  current situation.

At the same time, referring to the package settlement of the Karabakh  conflict and Aliyev's allegations that the first step in this  direction should be de-occupation of "Azerbaijani territories",  Balayan recalled that the package settlement of the conflict is a  principled position not only of Yerevan, but also of countries-  mediators and the entire international community.

Answering the question whether it is worth expecting positive  progress in the negotiation process after the electoral processes in  Armenia and Azerbaijan, Balayan stressed that official Yerevan never  linked progress in the negotiations with elections. According to him,  the time-out that Azerbaijan took is not aimed at preparing its  society for compromises and concessions, but for voicing territorial  claims not only to Nagorno-Karabakh, but also to Armenia and its  capital, which has a 2800-year history. "If the Azerbaijani side has  sincere intentions to make progress in the negotiation process, the  elections are not a hindrance.  Moreover, no one has any doubt about  what the results of this event will be called "elections". Let's see  how the assessment of this so-called election will be given by  international observers, "Balayan concluded.