Serzh Sargsyan: Attempts to equate the sides of the Karabakh conflict  are doomed to failure: This is a false objectivity

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.