YEREVAN. – The only guarantee for Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) is its defense army, which maintains the country’s security for twenty years.

Archbishop Pargev Martirosyan, who is Primate of the Artsakh Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church, expressed such a view, Hayots Ashkharh daily reported.  

‘“They say that Artsakh should surrender some regions, there should be a referendum, they should give us [Armenians] a narrow corridor, etc. But there is no guarantee of security. They are giving a narrow corridor. Who shall maintain that corridor? International forces? All right, let’s suppose. But we saw from life experience [that] there were peacekeeping forces in South Ossetia, but Georgia came in, struck, [and] went. The US went into Iraq, came out, [and] said everything is peaceful, yet today we see carnage; genocide is happening in Northern Iraq. 

‘“And who said this security guarantee will be implemented one-hundred percent in our case? I myself don’t believe in such guarantees,’ the bishop said,” Hayots Ashkharh wrote.