YEREVAN. – The Karabakh problem will never be solved by military means, political and military figure, Lieutenant General Norat Ter-Grigoryants, told Armenian News-NEWS.am.

In his words, all territories around Karabakh, and which are considered a security zone, are actually historical lands of Karabakh.

“Unless the world, especially the leadership of Azerbaijan, realizes that this matter can’t be resolved by military means, there will always be war,” Ter-Grigoryants stressed. “The independence of Karabakh should be recognized.

“The Armenian side has no need to attack. Armenians don’t seek to liberate the [Karabakh] flatland under the occupation of Azerbaijan. For that reason, Armenians never open the first fire; the provocations always come from Azerbaijan.

“If [Azerbaijan President Ilham] Aliyev occupies Karabakh, he will exterminate all Armenians [there]. Turkey and Azerbaijan—as a second Turkish state—expand and become states on the account of Armenian territories and the Armenian state. This is another plan by Turkey.”