RA President: We should strive for peace, not for war

ArmInfo. Despite Armenia's readiness to conclude a peace treaty and mutually recognize each other's territorial integrity, Azerbaijan continues its aggressive  stance. RA President Vahagn Khachaturyan stated in an interview with  the  Italian la Repubblica newspaper, the press service of the head  of state reports.

He presented in detail the content of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem,  the president noted that "Just like thirty years ago, the survival of  the Armenians is again threatened today. According to him, he war  wouldn't have taken place had the 1988 Sumgait and 1990 Baku pogroms  not happened, which were organized by the Soviet Azerbaijani  authorities. As a result, not a single Armenian is left today in  Sumgait or Baku. < Today Azerbaijan pursues the same policy.  Azerbaijan wants to depopulate Nagorno Karabakh of Armenians. Their  government is announcing that for them, the Nagorno Karabakh conflict  no longer exists because it's been resolved in the 44-Day War of  2020, despite the fact that 120,000 of our compatriots are living in  that region today. Baku claims that they must live under Azerbaijani  legislation, or else leave.  They know very well that no Armenian  will ever want to live in the kind of Azerbaijan where human rights  are violated, there are no democratic values, and in addition, as  Armenians they would be under constant threat. Despite our readiness  to sign a peace treaty and mutually recognize territorial integrity,  Azerbaijan continues its aggressive stance >, the RA President said.

Answering a question about the blockade of the Lachin corridor,  Khachaturyan stressed that on December 12, 2022, Azerbaijani  pseudo-eco-activists, under a completely far-fetched pretext, blocked  the humanitarian Lachin corridor, which led to a humanitarian crisis  for 120,000 residents of Nagorno- Karabakh. As a result, there is a  shortage of food, medicines, and due to constant blackouts,  electricity and gas in the region.

Khachaturyan stressed that Armenia is fully committed to the position  of achieving stable and lasting peace in the region and establishing  balanced and good neighborly relations with its neighbors. "We want  to have good-neighborly relations with our neighbors, that's why our  government has embarked on the path of normalizing relations with  Turkey. I am glad that after so many years we've resumed dialogue  with Ankara. We must look to the future and understand what kind of a  region we want to leave for our children. We should seek regional  balance and peace, not war>, the RA President said.