YEREVAN. – The territorial integrity of Azerbaijan has nothing to do with Karabakh, Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia, Shavarsh Kocharyan, noted at a press conference on Wednesday.

Developing on the concept which President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan had recently expressed, and according to which there should be a direct telephone link with Baku, Kocharyan recalled that such a “hotline” was functioning until 1994, and at various levels.

“[It was functioning] even between the [Armenian and Azerbaijani military] commanders; even during the military actions,” he added.

In his words, however, now we can speak solely about a high-level “hotline” between the parties to the Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) conflict.

“If mechanisms are applied to investigate incidents and the powers of Ambassador [Andrzej] Kasprzyk’s [i.e. Personal Representative to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Chairperson-in-Office] team are expanded, a hotline can be established between the [Armenian and Azerbaijani military] commanders, as an additional measure of confidence,” said Shavarsh Kocharyan.