Armenia Rejects Gradual Settlement and Return of Karabakh to Azerbaijan

The Armenian President rejects the possibility of the return of Karabakh to Azerbaijan. In an interview with Arabic television channel Al-Mayadin he said the people of Karabakh should themselves decide what status they want to have - an independent state or to join Armenia.

"Security may be provided exclusively outside the borders of Azerbaijan.

No one doubts that if, as a result of an evil joke, Karabakh will be at least for a day a part of Azerbaijan, there will be no Armenian left there. Therefore, the most important thing is that Karabakh should not be a part of Azerbaijan," he said.

“If the whole world starts to convince the residents of Karabakh to live in Azerbaijan, the Karabakh people will not agree. You can destroy them, but it is impossible to persuade them to live within Azerbaijan,” he said.

In turn, the assistant leader of the Karabakh separatists David Babayan rejected the possibility of a phased settlement of the Karabakh conflict.

"We have repeatedly stressed that we are in favor of a comprehensive settlement of the Karabakh conflict, i.e., batch settlement. However, Baku constantly insists on gradual option. In this case, Baku in the first step is to recognize the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh," said Babayan, commenting on the statement of Ilham Aliyev that the only solution to Karabakh conflict is the gradual settlement. -02D-