International mediators should condemn the militant and racist statements of Azerbaijani officials, which disseminate hatred to increase the possibility of maintaining a peace, said Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan in the interview to commonspace.eu website, Armenian News NEWS.am reports.

According to Armenian official, Europe should be worried about war, however, there are factors, including Minsk format and membership of Armenia to the CSTO that  make war less possible.

“The co-chairs [of Minsk group: Russia, USA and France – NEWS.am], EU and OSCE countries should condemn the militant and racist statements which disseminate hatred, because if they don’t then they decrease the possibility of maintaining a peace,” said Kocharyan.

At the same time, he stressed that fruitless peace talks over Karabakh issue is not due to the Minsk group, but the problem is rather in the position of Azerbaijan, which in its actions contradicts the Madrid Principles, which Azerbaijan itself has accepted as a basis for the negotiations.

“Co-Chairs of Minsk Group have two main functions - to help the sides come to an agreement, and to make sure the 1994 ceasefire isn't broken. We have had no progress in the first direction because of Azerbaijan,” added Armenian deputy FM. “It is obvious that there cannot be progress without confidence between parties.”

Kocharyan said that confidence can be achieved by doing all the suggestions that are made by the co-chairs of the Minsk group, including the withdrawal of snipers from the line of conflict and preparation of the societies for peace and not war.

“Bellicose speeches are made every day in Azerbaijan, and Azerbaijanis try to maintain enmity between the societies. One presidential statement said that all Armenians all over the world are enemies of Azerbaijan,” added Shavarsh Kocharyan. “Then there was the Safarov case, in which an Azerbaijani lieutenant murdered an Armenian officer in his sleep with an axe in Budapest and was subsequently released and pardoned in Baku. There is also the case of Akrim Aylisi, a writer who has been persecuted for writing about massacres of Armenians in Baku.”

He stressed that unlike Azerbaijan Armenian sides share the proposals of the co-chair countries, “but if the other party refuses to compromise, what should we do?”

Armenian official added that Nagorno-Karabakh Republic is a well-established, democratic state.

“I urge everybody to visit Artsakh and see the real situation. We also need humanitarian contacts between parties, which can facilitate the reduction of hatreds,” said Kocharyan.