We have never been and will never be a full-fledged part of Azerbaijan. Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) Foreign Minister David Babayan on Thursday told reporters this, in connection with the remark that Armenia’s leadership, following the example of Syunik Province, actually recognizes the borders of the ex-USSR, and when asked what conclusions can be drawn from this.

"The question is not clear. First, the NKAO [i.e., Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast] self-determined even within the USSR. In 1991, the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic [(NKR)] was proclaimed. The process was carried out in full compliance with all working laws of the USSR and the norms of international law. Therefore, to say that ‘the NKAO, NKR, Karabakh in general can be part of the present or of the Soviet Azerbaijan’ is wrong. We [Artsakh] have never been and will never be a full-fledged part of Azerbaijan. Everyone should understand that. But even in Soviet times, Karabakh had its statehood, and we were not subject to Azerbaijan directly in many domains," Babayan said.