YEREVAN. – Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh Republic; NKR) successfully creates and builds a democratic society and statehood, based on European values, for more than twenty years.
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan stated the aforementioned to Lidovе Noviny newspaper of the Czech Republic, during his state visit to this country.
To the reporter’s query as to whether Karabakh is an independent state, Sargsyan responded as follows:
“First of all, I suggest you to visit Nagorno-Karabakh. I am confident that, after having visited Artsakh, you will join the hundreds of journalists, public and political figures who refer with admiration to the high level of civic consciousness of the people living there.
“Nagorno-Karabakh’s status issue is a subject of talks under the brokerage of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs.”
Speaking on the Karabakh conflict, Sargsyan specifically noted:
“As a result of the aggression which Azerbaijan unleashed against the self-determined Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, a part of the contiguous regions passed under the control of the Nagorno-Karabakh armed forces; these lands play the role of a buffer zone.
“Azerbaijan constantly provokes the situation on the Line of Contact. The Azerbaijani president states that Karabakh, and even Armenia’s capital city Yerevan, are historical Azerbaijani lands, and that all this will one day be annexed to Azerbaijan.”
To the question as to the reason for the presence of a Russian military base in Armenia, Sargsyan stated:
“The presence of the military base serves the maintenance of peace, security and stability in our region. The strategic allied partnership likewise ties us to Russia. Armenia is committed to the precept of combining security systems.”
And to the query on the likelihood of the resumption of war, Armenia’s President responded:
“Azerbaijan does not stop threatening Armenia and Artsakh, disregarding the international community’s calls for preparing the people for peace, not war.
“Both Armenia and Artsakh share the Minsk Group Co-Chairs’ approach that there is no alternative to a peaceful resolution of the problem. I hope that common sense will prevail, and we will succeed in establishing a long-lasting peace and stability in our region.”
