Masis Mayilyan: In 2019, the Karabakh peace process was mainly aimed  at maintaining stability in the region

ArmInfo. The processes of the international recognition of the Republic of  Artsakh, expansion of its international integration and the  negotiations on the peaceful settlement of the Azerbaijan-Karabakh conflict are proceeding in parallel.

As the NKR MFA press service reports,  Minister of Foreign Affairs of  Artsakh (Nagorno- Karabakh Republic) Masis Mayilian said this on  January 15 at a press conference summarizing the activities of the  Ministry of Foreign Affairs for 2019.

At the same time, he stressed that the redoubling of the  efforts of the policy aimed at the international recognition of  Artsakh would not only help to alleviate Azerbaijan's uncompromising  negotiating positions, but would also contribute to raising the level  of Artsakh's security and regional stability.Masis Mayilian stressed  that in order to make real progress in the peace process and reach a  final settlement of the conflict, it is necessary to restore the full  trilateral format of the negotiation process with the full-fledged  participation of official Stepanakert.  

The Foreign Minister also noted that in 2019, the peace process on  the settlement of the Azerbaijan- Karabakh conflict was largely aimed  at maintaining stability in the region. It was noted that in general,  the ceasefire regime was maintained at the state border between  Artsakh and Azerbaijan.  Emphasizing the importance of excluding the  prospects of war and ensuring stability in the conflict zone, Masis  Mayilian emphasized that the Artsakh authorities continued to support  the OSCE mission's regular monitoring of the ceasefire. 

The Foreign Minister also noted that during the year a number of  confidence-building measures were agreed and implemented between the  parties to the conflict aimed at creating favorable conditions for  the promotion of the peace process. Masis Mayilian also underlined  the importance of the meeting with the OSCE Chairman-in-Office,  Slovak Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak, during which the NKR Foreign  Minister presented the Republic's position on the Azerbaijan-Karabakh  conflict settlement.  With the support of the Ministry of Foreign  Affairs, head of the Artsakh Union of Armenian Refugees from  Azerbaijan Sarasar Saryan had an opportunity to present to the OSCE  Chairman-in-Office the situation regarding the refugees in Artsakh. 

The Minister also noted that during the year the OSCE Minsk Group  Co-Chairs visited Stepanakert twice, met with the President of  Artsakh, the Foreign Minister and the Minister of Defense. Masis  Mayilian noted that the year of 2019 had marked the 25th anniversary  of the most important document in the Azerbaijan- Karabakh conflict  settlement process - the Agreement on the full cessation of fire and  hostilities, signed by Artsakh, the Republic of Armenia and  Azerbaijan, which had allowed to transfer the conflict settlement to  the diplomatic realm. In this regard, on May 10, a conference was  organized in Stepanakert at the initiative of the Ministry of Foreign  Affairs of the Republic of Artsakh, with the participation of  political and public figures from Artsakh, Armenia and Russia. Former  Co-Chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group Vladimir Kazimirov participated  in the conference as an honorable guest. 

During the press conference, Masis Mayilian also noted the high level  of cooperation between the Foreign Ministries of Artsakh and Armenia,  which allows Stepanakert to present to the counterparts in Yerevan  the position of Artsakh on different key aspects of the Pan-Armenian  agenda, as well as issues related to the peace process. In this  context, Masis Mayilian stressed the importance of signing on July 5  the Plan of consultations between the Foreign Ministries of the  Republic of Artsakh and the Republic of Armenia for 2019-2020, which  allows the two Foreign Ministries to intensify the cooperation at the  institutional level.  

The Foreign Minister also noted that at the initiative of the Foreign  Ministry the procedure for issuing visas to foreign tourists was  revised. This step, along with nationwide and international  political, sports and cultural events held in Artsakh, including, in  particular, the Friends of Artsakh Forum, the European Championship  of the Confederation of Independent Football Associations and the  Pan- Armenian Games, allowed to register a record growth in the  number of foreign citizens who had visited Artsakh. Compared with the  previous year, the growth in 2019 amounted to around 47 % percent.