Samvel Babayan called for direct negotiations between Khankendi and Baku

Baku03.07.23/Turan: One of the influential figures of the separatist regime in Karabakh, Samvel Babayan, called for direct talks between Khankendi and Baku to "try to build mutual trust"

"It is necessary to start direct negotiations between Stepanakert (Khankendi) and Baku, try to build mutual trust, agree on various simple issues, people should live calmly and normally. After that, we move on to the second stage: status and other remaining issues," Babayan said on Radio Azatutyun.

"If there is no mutual trust, I assure you, we have been negotiating for 30 years and have achieved nothing. Even if we negotiate for another 30, we won't achieve anything. No matter how hard Azerbaijan tries to get Russia out of here as soon as possible, which is its goal, it will not succeed if we do not have mutual trust," he continued.

To his thinking, the goal of Baku "is that we immediately establish bilateral relations with each other." "As the second political force of "Artsakh", I'm not against it. But first of all, we need to form a document on which points we will negotiate, then move on to other issues. I think all their steps are aimed at finding a direct negotiation process," Babayan said.

Thus, Babayan demonstrated a somewhat different position from the leaders of the separatist regime, who put forward a political precondition for negotiations with Baku, namely, a priori exclude the entry of the Armenian-populated part of Karabakh into Azerbaijan.

Official Baku categorically rejects any negotiations with the Armenians of Karabakh on the "status" and is ready to discuss only issues on the reintegration of the region into the Azerbaijani state and society.

As a reminder, Babayan commanded the Armenian armed forces in Karabakh in the 1990s and participated in the seizure of Azerbaijani cities and regions. As a result of the internal struggle among the separatists, he was deprived of his posts and arrested, and after his release he left for Armenia.

In 2016, after returning to Karabakh, he got involved in political activities. At present, he heads the so-called "United Motherland Party". -06B-