ArmInfo. It is well known that the Artsakh conflict is an inter-ethnic one rather then a territorial dispute. International law specialist Siranush Sahakyan stated on November 30 during a press conference in Yerevan, when asked to comment on the statement of Speaker of the Armenian Parliament Alen Simonyan about the possibility of Armenians living together with Azerbaijanis.
She recalled that any conflict has its causes, and without eliminating them it is impossible to achieve sustainable peace.
"Hatred against Armenians as an ethnic group, violence against them gave rise to this conflict. And as long as this policy continues and is encouraged at the state level in Azerbaijan, we cannot prevent violence. That is, the basis of violence is hatred towards Armenians, and no matter how much we wish or at the political level impose the coexistence of Armenians and Azerbaijanis, if the reasons are not eliminated, it will be repeated with great intensity. And international law takes the policy of discrimination quite seriously, especially when it is done by the state level. And one of instruments is separation. That is, the endowment of autonomy, which will allow it to exist," she stated.
At the same time, Sahakyan emphasized that in the current conditions she does not see a change in Azerbaijan's behavior on this issue. According to her, one indicator of behavior change would be punishment of criminals. "As long as the killer of the Armenian officer Gurgen Margaryan is free, or those who skinned the Armenian soldiers during the 44-day war are not punished, I do not see conditions for the coexistence of Armenians and Azerbaijanis," the human rights activist said.