Practice shows that Artsakh and Azerbaijan can observe the ceasefire and co-exist without any foreign interference, NKR President's Spokesman David Babayan says, when commenting on possible deployment of peacekeepers on the line of contact of the NKR and Azeri troops.
He thinks that in order to deploy peacekeepers Artsakh and Azerbaijan should recognize each others' independence, acknowledge the borders and bilaterally address the issue of Armenian and Azeri refugees. He notes that the problem cannot be settled if the issue of Azeri refugees is being discussed while the one of Armenian refugees is ignored.
"Only after addressing all these issues, as a good will gesture or the international community's willingness to contribute to peace and stability in the region, probably, some peacekeeping troops will be deployed along the entire Artsakh-Azerbaijan line of contact or on some of its sections," he stresses. At the same time, he says, the deployment of peacekeepers might be senseless at all.
Babayan notes that the Karabakh conflict is unique because despite the lack of peacekeepers the parties observed the ceasefire somehow. "However, it was more effective that in other regions, where the peacekeepers were becoming targets and had to intervene in the conflict. In our case, no such a thing happened and this proves that Artsakh and Azerbaijan - as two independent countries - can coexist. This is a fact," he says. Babayan adds that sometimes the situation undergoes unprecedented escalation. "But the practice shows that we are capable of observing the ceasefire without foreign interference," he says.
To recall, President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan said in an interview with DW that Armenia has never come out against deployment of Russian peacekeepers in the Karabakh conflict zone, but believes that the conflict must be resolved comprehensively and finally. "Quite the contrary, we have expressed readiness to sign a document that would provide for a comprehensive settlement of the conflict and presence of peacekeepers between the sides. However, Azerbaijan did not agree with it," the president said.