YEREVAN. – The Azerbaijani president’s statements can be viewed as yet another unsuccessful attempt at turning the reality upside down, and misrepresenting the negotiation process.  

Tigran Balayan, spokesperson at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of Armenia, told the aforesaid to RFE/RL Armenian service. He noted this commenting on Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s statements on the avenues for the settlement of the Karabakh conflict, and which he had said during an interview with RIA Novosti news agency of Russia.

“In the statements by the leaders of the OSCE [i.e. the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe] Minsk Group  co-chair countries [i.e. Russia, US, and France], and which are cited by Aliyev himself, it is clearly stated that the status of Nagorno-Karabakh [(NK/Artsakh)] will be determined by way of the expression of the legally-binding will of the NK people,” noted Babayan. “It would be better for the Azerbaijani leadership not to engage in self-deception and deceive the Azerbaijani society.

“One week ago, the leader of Azerbaijan had already publicly admitted to the real content of the negotiations, noting that Baku is urged to recognize the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh.”