Vitaliy Balasanyan: Policy of the Armenian authorities on the  Karabakh issue is a continuation of Levon Ter-Petrosyan`s policy

ArmInfo.The policy of the current authorities of Armenia in the Karabakh issue is a  continuation of Levon Ter-Petrosyan's policy on this issue. Former  Secretary of the NKR National Security Council, Lieutenant General  Vitaly Balasanyan stated this at a press conference on October 15.

He noted that according to Levon Ter-Petrosyan plan was to give  Artsakh an extended autonomy within Azerbaijan. And the first  president of Armenia never abandoned this idea. "Ter-Petrosyan  believed that until Karabakh was surrendered, Armenia would not face  good life, " Balasanyan said.

According to Balasanyan, Nikol Pashinyan did not pass on any new  documents to the Artsakh leadership.  "For many years, the presidents  and foreign ministers of Armenia have always kept the NKR leadership  informed about the topics to be discussed at the talks," he  emphasized.

In addition, the former secretary of the NKR National Security  Council expressed confidence that Artsakh will always be Armenian in  its current boundaries. " Artsakh will not become one of the regions  of Armenia in the near future. I believe that Artsakh will be  recognized within its current borders by international community. I  do not make a statement "not an inch of the land", I know how to  protect this land. Artsakh is the second Armenian republic, "  Balasanyan said.

The latter also touched upon the statement of Nikol Pashinyan that  "Artsakh is part of Armenia and that' final". "With such a statement,  the Prime Minister of Armenia probably wanted to say that he is also  the head of the NKR, but he is very mistaken. Such statements in  politics are not the norm, they are very dangerous. I am sure that  Pashinyan made such a statement intentionally. Moreover, I believe  that the Prime Minister of Armenia continues to pursue the policy of  Ter-Petrosyan. However, one should not refuse the format of relations  that the former authorities of Armenia conducted, " the lieutenant  general said.

Balasanyan emphasized that Pashinyan always announces a new strategy.  "What is this new strategy? And what' next? Will 20 years of work of  the OSCE Minsk Group be canceled? We all heard the statements of the  President of Azerbaijan, as well as the statement of Lavrov, the  statement of political figures from abroad, and all of them condemned  Pashinyan's statement that "Artsakh is part of Armenia and that's  final." The Armenian authorities should as soon as possible correct  the mistakes that they made over the past year and a half, " the  former Secretary of the NKR National Security Council concluded. 

It should be noted that on August 5, the Prime Minister of Armenia in  Stepanakert stated "Artsakh is part of Armenia and that's final."  Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov commented on this statement by  Pashinyan, saying that it does not contribute to creating an  atmosphere conducive to negotiations. In turn, the head of  Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, during a meeting of the Valdai  International Discussion Club in Sochi, stated that "Karabakh is part  of Azerbaijan and an exclamation mark."

It should be noted that the former secretary of the NKR National  Security Council Vitaly Balasanyan intends to take part in the  presidential election in Artsakh in 2020.