STEPANAKERT. – Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR), or Artsakh, Foreign Minister Karen Mirzoyan on Wednesday received students and lecturers from Johns Hopkins University in the US, who arrived in NKR on a study visit, NKR MFA informed Armenian News-NEWS.am.    

The interlocutors reflected on the Karabakh-Azerbaijani conflict and several matters pertaining to the regional processes. 

Mirzoyan noted, in particular, that the people of Artsakh were able to not only defend their homeland and triumph in the unequal war which Azerbaijan had imposed, but, also, to craft an independent state.     

“In the settlement of the Karabakh-Azerbaijani conflict, Nagorno-Karabakh favors solely a pacific settlement of the matter and Artsakh’s return to the negotiation table as a full party,” Mirzoyan said.

Noting that Azerbaijan attempts to misrepresent the nature and format of the peace talks, the NKR FM specifically said:

“The acceptance of the free will of the people of Karabakh is the axis of the settlement of the Karabakh problem. We have faith that the Artsakh people’s right to self-determination should definitely be taken into account.” 

The minister stressed that solely the Azerbaijani party’s recognition of the current realities, its abandonment of the propaganda of hate and militaristic disposition, and ending its increased military spending can create conditions for the resolution of the conflict and the establishment of peace and stability in the region.