The statements by James Warlick, even considering that they were made in the Azerbaijani media, first refer to Azerbaijan.

Davit Babayan, Spokesperson of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) President, stated the aforementioned.

He noted this commenting, at Armenian News-NEWS.am’s request, on Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group US Co-Chair James Warlick’s recent statement given to APA news agency of Azerbaijan. 

“The information disseminated in Azerbaijani media on Karabakh does not correspond to reality [in] 99.9 percent [of cases],” Babayan said. “[And] in the remaining 0.1 percent of cases, they are presented in a distorted way.”

The NKR presidential spokesperson noted that the matters relating to territories and status are important in the negotiation process.

“But this doesn’t mean returning to the situation between 1988 and 1991,” he stressed. “The [OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs] want to hear the voice of the population of Nagorno-Karabakh. This means the mediators will continue establishing close contacts with the NKR leadership. The country’s population itself has elected its leadership, and it’s not possible to imagine this process without meetings with them.”

Commenting on the Helsinki Final Act and its principles of the non-use of force or threat of force, Davit Babayan noted that if a country is constantly attempting to blackmail with the use of force and does use this force, a constructive discourse is impossible with such a country.

“If Azerbaijan seeks to settle the matter peacefully, first it must give up the fascist rhetoric and conduct,” he concluded.