Karabakh separatist leader crosses out hopes for peaceful settlement

Baku/20.09.22/Turan: "The Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict has not been settled and should be settled on the basis of the right of the people of Artsakh to self-determination and recognition of the results of its implementation," Karabakh separatist leader Araik Harutyunyan said in a video message on September 19.

He claimed that "the right to self-determination is given to the people of Artsakh by documents of international law and the OSCE."

The second Karabakh war "stiffened the necessity for full recognition of the right to self-determination", and the international community should recognize Karabakh's right to "self-determination and independence," he said.

According to him, the Armenians of Karabakh will not stop fighting for independence.

"Any document that considers Artsakh as a part of Azerbaijan is unacceptable to us. We will not accept any document that contradicts the interests of the people of Artsakh," he stressed.

"Hostile forces" consistently undertake provocations to undermine the role of the Russian peacekeepers and create distrust of Russia. "We hope that it will be possible to raise the effectiveness of the Russian peacekeepers and ensure their undated presence in Artsakh as an essential guarantee of the security of the people.

In view of the Turkish-Azerbaijani threats, we have the right to self-defense and will spare no efforts to modernize our own defense system," he said.

Such statements by Harutyunyan against the background of tensions on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the two countries in New York indicate that there is no hope for peaceful settlement of the conflict. -02D-