YEREVAN. – Aliyev contradicts not only himself, but also the entire process of the Minsk Group for dozens of years. Hovhannes Igityan, a member of the majority My Step faction at the National Assembly (NA) of Armenia and Deputy Chairman of the NA Standing Committee on Foreign Relations, on Friday stated this speaking with reporters in parliament, and referring to Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev’s statement that, “Karabakh [(Artsakh)] is Azerbaijan—period.”

“The matter of peoples’ self-determination is noted as a precept in all the documents of the [OSCE] Minsk Group,” he said. “And they have begun to discuss that matter at the Minsk Group because the people of Nagorno-Karabakh have already self-determined.”

Subsequently, Igityan reflected on Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s reaction to a recent statement by Nikol Pashinyan.

“Lavrov had recently referred to Republic of Armenia Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s statement, ‘Artsakh is Armenia—period,’ saying that it doesn’t contribute to the climate for starting the negotiation process [to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict],” Igityan said. “True, they had translated the Prime Minister’s speech a bit inaccurately, but I expect that Russia, as a co-chair country of the Minsk Group—[and] which should be neutral, should make a similar statement also in connection with Aliyev’s statement; and I expect a similar reaction from Lavrov, too.”

The Armenian MP stressed that if Azerbaijan considers Nagorno-Karabakh as its territory, then what negotiations should there be.

“With such a statement, Azerbaijan shows that it doesn’t see a continuation of the peace talks,” Hovhannes Igityan concluded.