Hovhannes Igityan: Aliyev has no answer to Pashinyan`s main question  

ArmInfo.Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev still has no answer to the main question. And here we are not talking about participation-non-participation of Artsakh in  the negotiation process. Deputy Chairman of the Standing Committee on  Foreign Relations of the National Assembly of Armenia Hovhannes  Igityan expressed a similar opinion to ArmInfo. 

"This is about the statement of the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol  Pashinyan about the necessity of accepting the final solution of the  Artsakh problem of the people of Armenia, Artsakh and Azerbaijan,  which remained hanging in the air made from the UN rostrum. Everyone,  including the Armenian side of the negotiations and the international  community, expected an answer of the Azerbaijani leadership on this  rather bold humanitarian gesture of Pashinyan, "he stressed.

However, in response to the statement of the Armenian Prime Minister  about the need to come together to find a solution acceptable to all  parties to the conflict, Aliyev, according to Igityan, was only able  to give out a phrase at the Valdai Forum in Sochi, according to which  Baku is not interested in the people or the population of Artsakh.  Thus, according to the politician, it turns out that Aliyev's  Azerbaijan is interested only in a piece of territory, which directly  contradicts at least one of the principles of settlement - the right  of peoples to self-determination.

In this context, Igityan recalled that the negotiations on the  settlement were interrupted due to the aggression shown by Baku in  April 2016. After that, all efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group and  Armenia were aimed at creating an atmosphere that would allow the  resumption of negotiations, What Baku's consent was obtained several  times. However, according to the politician, Aliyev, in his current  statements, actually denies the negotiations as an ongoing process.

"At the same time, until Azerbaijan officially withdraws from the  negotiations, Armenia, Artsakh and the Minsk Group should consider  that Baku continues to participate in them. Yes, Azerbaijan impedes  the process, does not contribute to creating an atmosphere of trust  with statements of its own leadership. We will consider that these  statements are addressed to public opinion in Azerbaijan. And if one  fine day all three parties are ready to resume negotiations,  Azerbaijan will once again be at their table, "Igityan summed up.

Since 1992, the OSCE Minsk Group, represented by the co-chairs from  Russia, the USA and France, has been engaged in the settlement of the  Karabakh conflict. Currently, the settlement process is nominally  taking place on the basis of the Madrid Principles put forward by the  OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs in 2007 and updated in 2009.