Provocations are possible on the part of Azerbaijan, but any large-scale hostilities in the Armenian territory are out of the question, Major General Arkady Ter-Tadevosyan stated on April 8, 2010.

Armenia is a member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), which is a guarantee for the country, he said. “According to the Treaty, the other CSTO member-states are to support us in case hostilities break out,” Ter-Tadevosyan said. On the other hand he pointed out that Azerbaijan’s storing ammunition does not promise anything good. “If Azerbaijan is storing so much ammunition and making bellicose statements, as cannot rule out hostilities, and a new war is highly probable,” Ter-Tadevosyan said. He added that the issues related to the return of territories are rarely settled in a peaceful way.

Speaking of the principles of people’s right to self-determination and territorial integrity, Ter-Tadevosyn pointed out that they are incompatible. “They are antipodes, which is the reason for the stalemate,” he said.

Ter-Tadevosyan pointed out that he cannot imagine the return of the territories taken with blood without any guarantees. “Despite political and diplomatic statements, the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict belongs to the people that shed their blood to preserve Nagorno-Karabakh,” Ter-Tadevosyan said, commenting on RA President Serzh Sargsyan’s interview with the AL WATAN newspaper (Syria).

T.P.