Friday, April 29 2022 17:57

ArmInfo. The people of Artsakh are ready to establish good neighborly relations with Azerbaijan, but they will never agree to be under Azerbaijani jurisdiction as slaves, and even more so to turn into a concentration camp. Artsakh Foreign  Minister David Babayan stated this in an interview with ArmInfo in  response to today's statement by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev  that he considers the inhabitants of Nagorno-Karabakh to be citizens  of Azerbaijan.

Babayan drew attention to the fact that the population of the NKR has  always opposed being under Azerbaijani jurisdiction. Recalling that  Nagorno-Karabakh was forcibly annexed to the Azerbaijan SSR in the  Soviet years, the communist party leadership did not take into  account the opinion of the population, the Artsakh Foreign Minister  stressed that even then Stepanakert retained sovereignty on many  issues.

The head of the Karabakh Foreign Ministry noted that it was the  unwillingness to live under the jurisdiction of Azerbaijan that from  year to year raised a wave of discontent, which ultimately resulted  in the 1988 Karabakh liberation movement.

Meanwhile, when asked how he views Aliyev's statement today that  allegedly "positive impulses are coming from the Karabakh Armenians  and initial contacts have already begun," Babayan noted that speaking  about the Karabakh-Azerbaijani settlement, a number of important  aspects should be clearly fixed.

"The key one is that we do not consider this conflict as a conflict  between the Armenian and Azerbaijani peoples. It is clear that the  population of Artsakh does not have hatred for the Azerbaijani  people. The problem here is the policy of the Azerbaijani state,  which openly conducts anti-Armenian propaganda with elements of  fascism, sows hatred towards everything Armenian. We are well aware  that we will not be at war with Azerbaijan forever, and we are ready  to establish good-neighborly relations if the Azerbaijani authorities  give up their policy," Babayan said.

According to him, one thing is now clear that the Azerbaijani  authorities are pursuing a genocidal policy aimed at the  dearmenization of our homeland - Artsakh.

"The shortest and best way to resolve the Karabakh-Azerbaijani  conflict on the part of Azerbaijan is to establish good-neighborly  relations, the opportunity to be good neighbors. However,  hatred  agains Armenians in Azerbaijan is cultivated at the highest level,  the Armenian spiritual and cultural heritage is being destroyed,"  Babayan said, noting that such a recent manifestation was the  desecration of an Armenian church in occupied Hadrut a few days ago.

It should be noted that today Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said  that Azerbaijan considers the Armenians living in Karabakh to be its  citizens. At the same time, he added that positive impulses are being  received from the Karabakh Armenians and primary contacts have  already begun. As Aliyev said, "within the framework of the  Azerbaijani state, Karabakh Armenians may develop economically, feel  more secure and comfortable." However, i in his opinion n the first  place, it is necessary to give up "separatist sentiments and accept  the realities." Aliyev also pointed out that in the near future  hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis will return to Kalbajar,  Lachin, Shushi, Aghdam and the Armenians should live with them "in an  atmosphere of neighborhood."