Armenian FM Blames Azerbaijan for Stalled Peace Process

MOSCOW (Combined Sources) — Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian has blamed Azerbaijan for lack of solution to the Karabakh conflict. “We have always appreciated the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs. Azerbaijan is to blame for the lack of solution to the Karabakh conflict, not the Co-Chairs or Armenia,” Minister Nalbandian said in an interview with Russian Kommersant Daily.

“We have repeatedly stated that we are ready to reach a solution based on the proposals made by the [Minsk Group] co-chairs. It is Azerbaijan that criticizes the co-chairs for these very proposals. Baku even accuses them of Islamophobia, stating that there isn’t any point in having meetings with them as they do not exert pressure on Armenia.”

“Perhaps, in Azerbaijan they do not quite understand the role of mediators. The mediators’ efforts should be directed first of all at establishing a dialogue, arranging meetings and approximating positions, instead of exerting pressure on one party or another,” added the top Armenian diplomat.

Minister Nalbandian stressed that “there is no alternative to peace talks” and reiterated Armenia’s willingness to continue to works with the Co-Chairs towards a peaceful resolution of the issue.

Speaking about the military-technical cooperation between Yerevan and Moscow, as well as the supply of Russian weapons to Azerbaijan, the Armenian Foreign Minister said: “We have to make efforts to keep the balance in the region and exclude new escalation. It’s well known that Azerbaijan has considerably increased its military expenses, with the military budget reaching several billion dollars. Under these conditions Armenia has to make efforts to keep the balance of power in the region.”

“We have allied relations with Russia and close military-technical cooperation. It’s no secret that we are buying weapons primarily from Russia. The fact that Russia sells weapons to different countries is natural, because Russia is one of the largest producers of armament and is very competitive on the market. Of course we cannot be delighted by the fact that Azerbaijan buys weapons from Russia and threatens to launch new war every day. We cannot be content with the fact that Baku is buying weapons from our partner, which is trying hard in cooperation with Armenia and within the framework of the CSTO to maintain peace and stability in our region,” Minister Nalbandian said.

FM Nalbandian also stated that “Turkish government is losing its hold on reality”.

“It seems that Turkish government is losing its hold on reality both in external and internal policy. Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu declares that the Kurds in Syria today cooperate with Russia like “Armenian gangs” did at the beginning of the 20th century. Such statement is a very serious signal for the international public on what can happen to the Kurds. At the beginning of the 20th century, one of the main organizers of Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Empire Talaat Pasha similarly blamed Russia for “arming and provoking Armenians”. Obviously, not much changed in Turkish ruling clique in a hundred years. If Turkey really wants NKR conflict to be settled, it should stay as far away as possible from the process of settlement,” Nalbandian said.