Friday, October 21 2022 10:37

ArmInfo. Below are Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan's remarks and answers to journalists' questions at a joint press conference with Iran's Foreign Minister  Hossein Amir Abdollahian:

Question: Dear Mr. Minister, agreements have been recently reached in  Prague to resolve the border disputes between Azerbaijan and Armenia.  I would like to know the mechanisms that have been discussed in order  to resolve this issue.

Ararat Mirzoyan: Thank you for the question. Yes, as you mentioned,  that meeting took place in Prague.  And this is not the only meeting  held and organized within the peace efforts. Our meetings on the  peace treaty, as well as other issues in Armenia-Azerbaijan relations  and the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, are ongoing on different platforms  and in different formats. Everywhere we attempt to be constructive  and find mutually acceptable solutions. Perhaps it will not be an  exaggeration if I say that the main obstacle for actually achieving  great progress everywhere is Azerbaijan's maximalist approach and  reluctance to reach mutually acceptable solutions with Armenia. We  hope that we can overcome this obstacle and manage to reach mutually  acceptable situations and solutions in the near future.

Question: What stage is the Persian Gulf-Black Sea International  Transport Corridor project at and what prospects can it open for the  countries of the region? What steps are being undertaken to involve  other countries, particularly India, in this project?

Ararat Mirzoyan: In addition to the honourable Minister's remarks,  let me note that Armenia is really interested in the Persian  Gulf-Black Sea transport corridor, and we, like Iran and Bulgaria,  have already signed an agreement on this. Negotiations are also  conducted with other countries, and with countries that haven't  originally been involved in this process. I think that the corridor  will be interesting, including for India, and we will be able to  eventually bring this idea to life. But I apologize and would like to  continue answering the previous question as well. However, again  continuing the topic of negotiations, I would like to state that I  presented the constructiveness of the Armenian side and mentioned  that, unfortunately, we only face the maximalist approach from  Azerbaijan. But there is also a circumstance that I think can  question the sincerity of the sides in building peace, at least of  one side namely: while peace talks are underway, the threats of use  of force are constantly voiced, or that force is actually being used  on the ground, aggression is carried out by one negotiating country  against the other negotiating country. In my opinion, probably,  everyone in the world will agree that this is not the best way of  sincere negotiations and is not the best example of peace, it is not  a demonstration of the willingness to achieve peace. Thank you:

Question: My question concerns the construction of the corridor  between Azerbaijan and Nakhichevan. I would like to hear your  position in this regard.

Ararat Mirzoyan: Thank you for the question. I think, however, there  was a mistake in the wording of the question. Certainly, the military  aggression against Nagorno-Karabakh was ceased by the trilateral  statement in 2020, and the following and interconnected trilateral  statements also emphasized the importance of unblocking the transport  and economic infrastructures of the region. And here, in the context  of unblocking all these infrastructures, the statements also  emphasized the establishment of transport communication between the  main part of Azerbaijan and Nakhichevan. We participate in these  discussions within the format of a trilateral working group. And as  we have repeatedly stated previously, we are ready to open the roads  for Azerbaijani passenger and cargo transportation as well.  Certainly, we acknowledge and never question the fact that all  infrastructures to be opened or newly built ones must remain under  the sovereignty of the countries and operate according to the  legislation of the countries which territory they pass, including the  road you mentioned, through which Azerbaijani people can reach  Nakhichevan from the main part of Azerbaijan, or, in general,  citizens and cargo of third countries can use this road to reach  their destination. We believe that there may be more modern solutions  in this matter, such as electronic cargo declaration, etc. I don't  want to go into too many details at this point.The main requirement  that the Armenian side has in this regard is the following: the roads  should remain under our sovereignty and operate under our  legislation. Unfortunately, as I mentioned earlier, we are facing the  uncompromising behaviour of Azerbaijan in this matter. I should also  say that we see other third countries, sometimes even unexpected  ones, supporting the Azerbaijani interpretation of this road. I  repeat, and we have said this many times, that there can be no  question of opening a corridor through the territory of Armenia with  any regulations specific to extraterritorial status.

Question: My question is addressed to honourable Mr. Mirzoyan. Taking  into account the process of normalization of relations between  Armenia and Turkey since 2019, I would like to know what progress has  been achieved in this regard, especially considering Turkey's support  to Azerbaijan, as well as their statement about supporting Azerbaijan  during the recent negotiations. I would like to know at what stage  the process is and what are the expectations.

Ararat Mirzoyan: Thank you for the question. Indeed, this issue is  also important for the regional geopolitical picture. You know that  the two countries have appointed their special representatives, who  have already had four meetings and substantive discussions in the  direction of establishing diplomatic relations between Armenia and  Turkey, as well as opening the closed border between the two  countries - the border closed by Turkey. I would also like to mention  that during this time I participated in the diplomatic forum in  Antalya upon the invitation of the Foreign Minister of Turkey, and  also in Prague, which we have mentioned before. The meeting of the  Prime Minister of Armenia and the President of Turkey took place a  few days ago. I should say that I positively assess the process, and  indeed the landmark is the establishment of relations and the opening  of the border. At the same time, I believe that our interlocutors in  Turkey should less and less connect this process with the negotiation  process between Armenia and Azerbaijan and, on the contrary, they  should realize that the success of the Armenia-Turkey dialogue can  have a positive impact on the Armenia-Azerbaijan negotiation. I want  to say that sometimes the statements regarding these issues give us  reason to think that, for example, Turkey is probably more interested  in the opening of the corridor with an extraterritorial status than,  for instance, Azerbaijan. I reiterate that Turkey's more constructive  position in the Armenia-Turkey process, on the contrary, would have a  positive impact on the Armenia-Azerbaijan process.