Harutyunyan announces ultimatum presented by Baku: either integration  or escalation

ArmInfo.On March 6, President of the Artsakh Republic Arayik Harutyunyan convened an extended  meeting of the Security Council with the participation of the political forces of the National Assembly and heads of regional  administrations, the press service of Artsak resident reports.

Before starting the meeting, the attendees observed a moment of  silence to honor the memory of the policemen of the Ministry of  Internal Affairs of the Artsakh Republic who died as a result of the  Azerbaijani sabotage on March 5, after which President Harutyunyan  made a statement.

According to the Head of the State, the Artsakh side met with the  Azerbaijani side on February 24 with the mediation and presence of  the command staff of the Russian peacekeeping contingent deployed in  Artsakh in order to discuss the humanitarian and infrastructural  issues arising from the situation. An agreement was reached regarding  the second meeting, which took place on March 1 under the leadership  of Security Council Secretary Samvel Shahramanyan. Four issues were  on the agenda of the meetings: unblocking of the Lachin Corridor,  restoration of electricity supply from the Republic of Armenia to  Artsakh, uninterrupted supply of natural gas, and re-exploitation of  the Kashen mine.

"During the second meeting, the representative of Azerbaijan  attempted to discuss political topics using the word "integration",  but Mr. Shahramanyan prevented that, saying that if they should  discuss political issues, it should be the topic of recognition of  the independence of Artsakh by Azerbaijan. He added that they are not  authorized to discuss political issues and cannot discuss such issues  at this meeting," A. Harutyunyan noted.

According to the Head of the State, after that, the Azerbaijani side  conveyed through its channels that either we accept the integration  policy, or there will be no solution to the existing problems, on the  contrary, there will be tougher and sharper steps.  "We did not  accept, we do not accept and today I want to state again that it is  not only a decision of the Security Council, but the overwhelming  majority of our people accept that we will not deviate from our right  to independence and self-determination. And that means that in the  near future we will have various developments, situations that we  have to face. We choose to either continue the struggle that we have  embarked on, or if there are such moods in the public that we should  accept the proposal presented by Azerbaijan, then they have the  opportunity to speak up within the scope of their civil rights and  say that the path we have chosen is wrong, try to shape those moods,  and form a new government in the country. But since we have chosen  the path of struggle, please first of all respect our decision and do  not react to any such phenomena and do not attach any internal  political implications," said the President.  Touching upon the  tragic case of the killing of police officers of the Ministry of  Internal Affairs of the Artsakh Republic as a result of an  Azerbaijani sabotage on March 5, the President of the Republic noted  that, unfortunately, such provocations are not excluded in the near  future.  "We must realize the fact that we have to struggle for a  long time and within the framework of that struggle there will be  such situations, and we should take preventive measures. I have  discussed our problems with the State Minister and today I want to  instruct the Government by the decision of the Security Council to  develop a program in the directions of food security and energy  security, as we have to calculate all scenarios," said Arayik  Harutyunyan.  At the meeting of the Security Council, Defense  Minister Kamo Vardanyan delivered a report on the operational  situation. Subsequently, there was an exchange of ideas, and a number  of decisions were made as per the agenda.

It should be noted that on March 5, at around 10:00, a sabotage group  of the armed forces of Azerbaijan opened fire on the duty car of the  Passport and Visa Department of the Police in the area called  Haipalu. As a result of the sabotage attack, three police officers of  the NKR Ministry of Internal Affairs were killed.  Another police  officer is badly injured. Azerbaijani media report up to 8 losses  from their side.