David Babayan: No Alternative to Recognition of NKR Independence

STEPANAKERT — David Babayan, the head of the press service of the Nagorno Karabakh president, told Russian Interfax news agency that official Stepanakert expects positive outcomes from the meeting of U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov on July 14 in Moscow.

“We value these meetings, especially when the two prestigious states, that are members of both the OSCE Minsk Group and the UN Security Council, are concerned for a peaceful settlement of the conflict. Perhaps some steps would be taken towards the development of the mechanisms for strengthening the peace and stability,” he said.

Babayan accused Azerbaijan of dragging out the resolution of the conflict in a hope to achieve a more favorable position for itself. “In Vienna, as well as in Saint Petersburg the parties made a general agreement, which is rather important. The development of the mechanisms should begin after the agreement is reached. This makes it a long process. Currently, there’s no need to say that there’s no progress. The important thing is that the process has started. No one said that the introduction of the mechanisms would happen in a month. This is a very long process”. He stated.

He again confirmed the position of official Stepanakert on peaceful settlement of the conflict through negotiations and compromise. “The compromise should be proportionate. It shouldn’t become a temptation for Azerbaijan to solve the conflict through military operations. We’ve already stated there will be no compromise in terms of ceding territory or status”.

According to him, Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity has nothing to do with Nagorno-Karabakh, whose independence does not threaten the territorial integrity of that country, since Nagorno Karabakh has never been part of independent Azerbaijan. He said the negotiations would succeed only after the restoration of Karabakh authorities’ participation in the peace negotiations.