YEREVAN. – Meetings with the representative of Azerbaijan are not an end in itself, and they cannot take place at the expense of personal and national dignity. The Human Rights Defender (Ombudsman) of Armenia, Arman Tatoyan, stated this at Tuesday’s press conference, when asked whether he would agree to meet with the Azerbaijani ombudsperson.

In general, expressing readiness for contacts to resolve matters of human rights violations, Tatoyan stressed, however, that in the past there were cases when the Azerbaijani ombudsperson publicly made insulting statements and posited conditions.

"But the thing is that all the statements by the Azerbaijani ombudsperson are part of the Azerbaijani propaganda. Sometimes it is difficult to distinguish them from the statements of the [Azerbaijani] Ministry of Defense. Meetings cannot be at the expense of personal and national dignity. Meetings on the terms they present are, of course, impossible. Contacts [with them] take place through international organizations," said the Armenian ombudsman.

At the same time, he stressed that all human rights issues in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) should be discussed with the participation of its ombudsman.