Asks ‘Third Parties’ to Mediate Talks with Baku

Artsakh State Minister Gurgen Nersisyan said on Friday that yielding to Azerbaijan’s conditions would further complicate the situation and deepen the crisis. He proposed a meeting between Stepanakert and Baku officials to be mediated by the Russian peacekeepers.

In a video message posted on his Facebook page, Nersisyan said that it was important to hold a meeting with Azerbaijan’s representatives as long as a third party was present and participated in the talks.

“I think we should request Russia and all interested parties, to organize a meeting with Azerbaijan around the current situation, security issues and the disastrous humanitarian situation in Artsakh,” Nersisyan said.

“He warned that no one can guarantee the physical security of Artsakh citizens on Azerbaijan’s territory, thus that meeting could only take place Russian peacekeepers command base in Nagorno-Karabakh or any other safe location in the presence of a third party,” Nersisyan added.

The state minister, however, was clear that suggestions that Stepanakert cave to Azerbaijan’s demands, including the opening of the Aghdam road to Askeran were baseless, saying that Baku’s demands would complicate matters.

“Azerbaijan has presented new demands: the launch of the Aghdam-Askeran road and a meeting with representatives of ethnic Armenians in Karabakh on Azerbaijani territory. There will be endless demands until Baku’s plan to subject the people of Artsakh to genocide and to give a final solution to the Karabakh conflict by depopulating Artsakh is completed. Therefore, the claims that making concessions in response to Azerbaijan’s demands would allow us to recover are baseless illusions. Furthermore, it would only further deepen and complicate our situation,” Nersisyan said.