Official Yerevan is heading toward an escalation of the conflict, the Azerbaijani foreign policy department has declared, responding to the latest speech by Armenia’s foreign minister.
Opening a conference with the heads of Armenia’s diplomatic corps and foreign diplomatic representations, Zohrab Mnatsakanyan had insisted: “Azerbaijan, with its unchanging anti-Armenian policy, continues to remain a threat to the existence of the people of Artsakh.”
“Armenia’s new authorities must finally make up their minds — whether they want peace or an escalation of the situation,” official Baku responded, insisting that Armenia’s foreign minister is deliberately heading toward an escalation of the situation. “Nevertheless, in the case of any scenario it is obvious that Azerbaijan will never reconcile itself with the current ‘status quo’; our patience is not unlimited,” the Azerbaijani foreign policy department declared.
In his speech, Armenia’s foreign minister also recalled Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s position on the Karabakh conflict: “Armenia cannot go along with any option for settlement that could endanger the security of the people of Artsakh and limit the framework for the realisation of the right to self-determination,” Mnatsakanyan had said.
Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry in response insisted: “The concept of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh does not exist; there are Armenian and Azerbaijani communities of that region. The formats of the right to self-determination of the region’s inhabitants can be placed under clear discussion only after restoring the fundamental rights of the Azerbaijani community of Nagorno-Karabakh, ensuring their safe return to their native settlements and a dignified existence.”
At the annual gathering of Armenian diplomats, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan also spoke about the settlement of the conflict, again insisting: “From the very beginning, the Nagorno-Karabakh negotiations have had three negotiating parties, and that is, in essence, the only internationally recognised negotiating format.”
