“The main obstacle in the way of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement is the fact that Armenia has occupied the substantial part of the Azerbaijani territory,” this was the question Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian was asked by Austrian Der Standard newspaper. And in response to that question he said almost the following, “In response to Azerbaijan’s aggression, the defense forces of Karabakh were compelled to create a buffer zone around Karabakh, in order to guarantee the physical existence of the people.”
For Armenian Revolutionary Federation Bureau Hay Dat and Political Issues Office manager Kiro Manoyan the definition voiced in the above-mentioned question is neither a mistake, nor a diplomatic move. “It is clear that the establishment has a task of returning territories. That is why the minister didn’t clarify the question. The Madrid Principles are about returning territories. This was not negligence, but a political attitude,” Mr. Manoyan said to www.aravot.am.
He reminded that Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan had stated as early as being the defense minister that no one claimed that Aghdam was an Armenian land, “He talks about returning the territories. The minister’s attitude is not surprising, neither is it novel. Such an attitude is not normal.”
www.aravot.am asked Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan to clarify this, “I am not aware, I cannot clarify. I will look into it; I will not make a comment unless I see it word by word.”
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Arpine SIMONYAN
