Mailyan: Proposals and principles that have been outdated for the  last 27 years and need to be revised

ArmInfo. Over the past year,  the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs did not talk about elements and  principles that are better known as the Madrid Principles. This was  stated by Artsakh Foreign Minister Masis Mailyan in an interview with  journalists following a meeting with the OSCE Chairman-in-Office,  Slovak Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak.At the same time, he stated  that a reminder of them by the co-chairs in the last statement was  surprising. 

"Their statements were a bit strange, but they thus tried to convey  their point of view, to say that these proposals remain on the  negotiation agenda. We believe that the time has come to abandon  these principles and make more realistic proposals. We can also  expect some progress on the issue of restoring the format of the  negotiations. But, if the outdated principles remain, and Artsakh  will not participate in the negotiations, we will not be able to  record any progress in this negotiation process, "said l Mailyan,  adding that the proposals and principles that are on the negotiating  table for the past 27 years are outdated and need to be revised.He  also agreed with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan that 3  principles and six elements on the negotiation agenda need  clarification. "We also say that they need revision. If we talk about  the principle of the territories, I would like to emphasize once  again that our conflict with Azerbaijan is not a territorial dispute,  as official Baku is trying to present, therefore, we'll start these  negotiations unilateral concessions are unacceptable and distort the  essence of the conflict, "the NKR Foreign Minister said.

Since there are international mediators who have made these  proposals, Mailyan continued, they should take a more realistic  approach, and the Artsakh side, if necessary, can provide expert  assistance in finding a more realistic approach.Touching upon the  participation in the negotiations, the Karabakh community of  Azerbaijan, the Artsakh Foreign Minister expressed conviction that  the so-called Azerbaijani community of the NKR are citizens of  Azerbaijan and live on its territory, participate in the Azerbaijani  elections and are already represented there. "That is, they  authorized their president to represent their interests in the  negotiations, and the only party not represented in them is Artsakh.  I believe that in this way Azerbaijan is trying to equate NGOs and an  established state, which is absurd and short-sighted," said Mailyan.