STEPANAKERT. – The people of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) perfectly remember the Azerbaijani authorities’ attempt to “solve” the problem through physical extermination of the people of Artsakh, said Davit Babayan, Spokesperson of the President of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR).

Babayan noted the aforesaid while commenting, at the request of Armenian News-NEWS.am, on Azerbaijani FM Elmar Mammadyarov’s recent statement that the status issue of Karabakh cannot be considered at the “initial phase of negotiations.”

“[Azerbaijani] government figures change, but the wishes [of theirs] remain the same,” the NKR presidential spokesperson said, in particular.

He added that this latest statement by Mammadyarov shows that Azerbaijan does not even consider ending its aggressive and fascist rhetoric.

“When we say that there is no return to the past, including in terms of borders, we don’t say this despite the statements by Baku,” stressed Davit Babayan. “There has been a precedent when Azerbaijan attempted to physically exterminate Nagorno-Karabakh. And this was not 100 to 200 years ago, but 25—starting from 1988. [But] Nagorno-Karabakh was an autonomous region at that time, too.

“Now, they [i.e. the Azerbaijani authorities] are attempting to force the aggressive, savage plans [of theirs] upon us.

“I believe the Azerbaijan authorities need to be freed from the bad [wedding] souvenirs, so that (…) the [Karabakh peace] process starts.”