President of the Helsinki Committee of Armenia, human rights activist Avetik Ishkhanyan says the Prime Minister needs to state that Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) will never be a part of Azerbaijan, period.

“For me, Artsakh is a pivotal issue, and I would really like for it to be a pivotal issue for all Armenians. Artsakh is part of the future of the Armenian people. If the Armenian people can protect and maintain Artsakh as Armenia, then Armenia and the Armenian people will have a future. If not, we Armenians will become like the Assyrians who remember their glorious past. In this sense, I absolutely disapprove of the Prime Minister’s statement that the government will negotiate whatever it wants to negotiate,” Ishkhanyan says, adding that the government must not negotiate whatever it wants to negotiate, touching upon the following statement that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan made in parliament: “Certain forces aren’t going to intimidate us to sit at the negotiating table and feel scared to say something so that it doesn’t turn into a big deal. Armenia has the power of the people to negotiate over the issue. Nobody should ask the government what it is negotiating. We will negotiate whatever needs to be negotiated.”

“You must negotiate in such a way and must express such a position that will make everyone aware of the fact that Artsakh can never be a part of Azerbaijan. Don’t refer to the people. I am a part of the people, and there are people in Artsakh. You tell the internal audience in such a way to make us feel at ease.”