Artsakh Is Not Azerbaijani Territory: Davit Babayan's Call

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Artsakh, Davit Babayan, has addressed the Azerbaijani side's positions regarding the status of Artsakh, emphasizing that Artsakh is not Azerbaijani territory.

In an interview with Armenpress, Babayan urged Baku not to distort the reality. “Of course, this is not Azerbaijani territory. That is their goal – to make Artsakh part of Azerbaijan, but that does not mean that they will succeed,” said Davit Babayan.

Commenting on the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense's statement that Armenia is transferring armed forces to the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, the Foreign Minister of Artsakh stated that “there is no movement or deployment of troops from Armenia.”

According to Davit Babayan, both the use of military means by the Azerbaijani armed forces and similar statements from Baku are aimed at the same goal – to exert psychological pressure and intimidate the people of Artsakh. Additionally, they are trying to undermine Armenian-Russian relations and prepare the ground for severing the connection between Artsakh and Armenia.

“Tomorrow they will say, ‘We need to check to see who is coming from Armenia,’ and so on. They have planned to suffocate Artsakh economically, not allowing investments to take place,” explained the Foreign Minister of Artsakh, adding that nevertheless, it is crucial to take such statements seriously and to take appropriate measures against them.

Highlighting the role of the Russian peacekeeping forces, Davit Babayan emphasized that when we speak of “Armenian forces” or “Armenian formations,” we must remember that these include the Defense Army of Artsakh, which exists and is a guarantee of the security of the people of Artsakh.

“We will always have our army, our armed forces, because that is also a guarantee of our population's security. In general, Armenia remains one of the guarantors of Artsakh's security. And if we want both Armenia's future to be predictable and secure, and Artsakh's, then the place and role of Artsakh must be high in Armenia's socio-political life. Without that, things will indeed be very bad. And those provocateurs, those enemies who play the ‘Karabakh-Armenian’ card, from their daily lives to their official statements, should already be held criminally accountable,” said Davit Babayan.

According to the APA agency, on August 11, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense announced that “in recent days, Armenia, violating the tripartite statement, is transferring armed forces to Azerbaijani territory, where the peacekeeping forces of the Russian Federation are temporarily stationed.” In response, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia reminded that the first point of the November 9 statement clearly states: “...the parties shall stop at their occupied positions.” Therefore, Baku's claims that the tripartite statement defines the withdrawal of Armenian military units from Nagorno-Karabakh are a blatant fabrication.