Artsakh Has No Barriers to Lowering. David Babayan

We are not against dialogue; we have always welcomed dialogue that will lead to stable peace. The regulation of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan cannot be at the expense of Artsakh—recognizing Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan. This was stated by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Artsakh, David Babayan, in an interview with Galatv.am.

“This is a red line, and crossing it will lead to unpredictable consequences. The proposals put forward by Azerbaijan—whether it’s 5 points, 7, or 17—we have only one point: we will not be part of Azerbaijan. The fate of Artsakh is decided by the entire Armenian nation, mainly by Artsakh itself. We will carry this line to the end because the fate of Artsakh is indeed linked to the fate of the entire Armenian nation and to some extent to the further course of international relations,” he said.

According to Babayan, it is clear that Armenian-Azerbaijani relations are closely interconnected with the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict, but nonetheless, they are separate processes. “Azerbaijan wants to link the two in such a way that by normalizing relations with Armenia, they achieve recognition of Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan. I don’t think this is possible because it will lead to the destruction of Artsakh; no Artsakh means no Armenia. Azerbaijan has inflicted severe wounds on Artsakh; we have lost territories, and we have thousands of casualties and injured. But Artsakh exists, and we must do everything to ensure that Artsakh remains, and Artsakh will only remain under one condition: when it is not part of Azerbaijan,” emphasized the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Artsakh.

Addressing Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s statement that the international community demands to lower the bar regarding the status of Artsakh, Babayan stated, “Artsakh can no longer lower its bar; we have a red line that we must follow. The international community is a multicolored concept. Of course, part of the international community wants Artsakh to be part of Azerbaijan and to be destroyed. But there are also countries that do not want the destruction of Artsakh. We must save our country, not think about gaining geopolitical dividends or fighting against this or that country; we have all the grounds to defend what we have.”

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