Without Resolution of Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict it is impossible to Sign Peace Treaty Between Armenia and Azerbaijan – Security Council Secretary

YEREVAN – Without resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict or at least without specifying how it will be settled, it is impossible to conclude a peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the Secretary of the Armenia’s Security Council Armen Grigoryan told CivilNet.

According to him, the Armenian side worked over the five principles and their expanded version presented by Azerbaijan, on the basis of which a meeting of foreign ministers of the two countries was held in Washington on October 7.

Now, Grigoryan said, the text has the form of a framework agreement capable of comprehensively solving the existing problems between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The Secretary of the Security Council expressed the opinion that the framework of the peace process is becoming more and more obvious.

In the spring of this year principles of a peace agreement proposed by Azerbaijan were conveyed to the Armenian side. They include mutual recognition of sovereignty, territorial integrity, inviolability of each other’s state borders; mutual political independence, mutual confirmation of the legal obligation of states not to present territorial claims to each other and not to present such claims in the future; to refrain from threats to each other’s security in interstate relations, from threats to political independence and against territorial integrity, and from the use of force and steps inconsistent with the purposes of the UN Charter; demarcation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, establishment of diplomatic relations; opening of transport communications, establishment of other relevant communications; cooperation in areas of mutual interest.

In response, the Armenian side made public its six- point normalization proposal. One of them says that “for the Armenian side the issues of guaranteeing the security of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians, the respect of their rights and freedoms, as well as the determination of the final status of Nagorno-Karabakh are fundamental.”

In a related development, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan emphasized today the importance of the commitment of the sides to refrain from the use of force or threat of use of force during a meeting in Yerevan with Russian co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group and Russian Foreign Minister’s special representative for facilitating normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan Igor Khovayev.

Mirzoyan was quoted by the Armenian Foreign Ministry as saying that ‘ Azerbaijan, with its aggressive behavior and maximalist aspirations continues to obstruct the establishment of sustainable and lasting peace in the region’.