Monday, August 31 2020 22:04

ArmInfo. It makes no sense to expect progress in the negotiations on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, when Azerbaijan, on the one hand, incites hatred, on the other hand,  in words, strives for peace. Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab  Mnatsakanyan stated this in an interview with Interfax, referring to  the reasons for the July escalation.

"It is regrettable to observe the incitement of an atmosphere of  hatred not only in our region, but also an attempt to transfer it  outside the region. An important principle for Armenia in the process  of a peaceful settlement is to make every effort to create an  environment conducive to peace. It is impossible to conduct a  peaceful negotiation process in the presence of an atmosphere of  hatred, rhetoric of war and threats to use force. It is impossible in  the conditions of "Armenophobia", militant rhetoric, to assume that  we can have real progress in the negotiations, "Mnatsakanyan said.   Clarifying what to do in order to avoid such clashes in the future,  the Armenian minister expressed his conviction that, first, there  must be an awareness of the need for a peace process, there must also  be political will, and there must be concrete measures.  

"We are negotiating, including on various concrete steps that help  reduce this rhetoric and the escalation of hatred. This has a  specific content, there are a lot of proposals from our side, from  the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs. All these ideas must be implemented.   We have a good example when last year we were able to implement a  project to exchange journalists from Baku, Yerevan and Stepanakert.  The results may have been modest, but very important. This is an  important part of the entire peace process, "the RA Foreign Minister  said.  

When asked what is the reason for the constant exacerbations,  Mnatsakanyan recalled that what happened on July 12, in fact, was a  repeated attempt after April 2016 to use force, and through military  action to impose unilateral concessions on Armenia and Artsakh.  He  recalled that on July 12 an attack was made on Armenian border posts  in the north-east of Armenia, in the Taush region. 

"A significant amount of weapons and equipment was used, including  the shelling of civilians and civilian infrastructure. Armenia  resolutely rebuffed this aggression, confirming once again that there  was no military solution to this conflict. Both Armenia and  Nagorno-Karabakh have enough forces, enough resources to ensure its  defense and its security and the crushing rebuff of the July  aggression of Azerbaijan, this has once again confirmed, "the  Armenian minister said.

To clarify what to do in order to avoid such clashes in the future,  the Armenian Minister expressed his conviction that, first, there  must be an awareness of the need for a peace process, there must also  be political will, and there must be concrete measures.  "We are  negotiating, including on various concrete steps that help reduce  this rhetoric and the escalation of hatred. This package has a  specific content, there are a lot of proposals from our side, from  the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs. All these ideas must be implemented.  

We have a good example when last year we were able to implement a  project to exchange journalists from Baku, Yerevan and Stepanakert.   The results may have been modest, but very important. This is an  important part of the entire peace process, "the RA Foreign Minister  said.  When asked what is the reason for the constant exacerbations,  Mnatsakanyan recalled that what happened on July 12, in fact, was a  repeated attempt after April 2016 to use force, and through military  action to impose unilateral concessions on Armenia and Artsakh.  

He recalled that on July 12 an attack was made on Armenian border  posts in the north-east of Armenia, in the Taush region. "A  significant amount of weapons and equipment was used, including the  shelling of civilians and civilian infrastructure. Armenia resolutely  rebuffed this aggression, confirming once again that there was no  military solution to this conflict. Both Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh  have enough forces, enough resources to ensure its defense and its  security and the crushing rebuff of the July aggression of  Azerbaijan, this has once again confirmed, "the Armenian Minister  said.

He also disagreed with the assertions that the status quo is  beneficial to Armenia and is not interested in the settlement of the  conflict. "I cannot agree with this opinion. Both Armenia and  Nagorno-Karabakh are interested in a stable peace in the region. This  is possible by reaching a peace agreement based on compromises. 

Unilateral concessions are ruled out, they cannot have prospects. And  we cannot be interested in situations when peace and security in the  region do not have stable long-term foundations. In this sense, the  peace negotiation process for us was and remains an important  priority for resolving this conflict, "Mnatsakanyan stressed.   Assessing the role of the OSCE Minsk Group in the settlement, the RA  Foreign Minister stated that since the mid-90s, the format of the  co-chairs, which includes Russia, the United States and France, has  been and remains the only format of the negotiation process.  

"And it has concrete results. This is a format recognized by the  international community, which includes three permanent members of  the UN Security Council. Three countries that have a sufficiently  strong resource - political, diplomatic, in order to implement the  mediation function. The involvement of these countries remains very  strong.  Over the years, a whole mechanism has been developed, a  whole catalog of various parameters and approaches that provide the  framework where it is possible to work out a compromise. A tangible  and real compromise. 

In this sense, we continue and will continue to support this  mediation format. The Russian Federation is one of the co-chairs of  the Minsk Group. The efforts of the Russian side were very effective;  this was evident both during the events in July and before them. I am  sure that Russia's involvement at all levels underlines the  seriousness that Russia has regarding this process and the important  contribution that Russia is making, together with the other  co-chairs, in the work towards a peaceful settlement. 

Here we have no questions, and any attempts to question the work of  the co-chairs, which, among other things, is an important deterrent  in terms of escalation, as well as to put pressure on the existing  format, are unacceptable," he said.