“Baku Discusses One Issue with Us – Integration, No Other Topic” – Araik Harutyunyan

On June 29, a final session of the 7th convocation of the National Assembly of Artsakh was convened. The first item on the agenda was a report on the progress and results of the 2022 activity program of the President of Artsakh and the activity program for 2023.

President Araik Harutyunyan answered numerous questions from the MPs regarding the report, the current situation in the country, Azerbaijan's provocations, and the negotiation process. CivilNet was present at the session and noted the key points raised during the Q&A session between the MPs and the president.

Araik Harutyunyan stated, “Baku discusses one issue with us – integration, no other topic is being discussed. Furthermore, he emphasized why Armenia should not accept Azerbaijan's proposal and go to Baku for negotiations. “Because Baku discusses one issue with us – integration, no other topic is being discussed. Different people say – let’s go and persuade them. Friends, I have tried for two years. If anyone thinks I have been a bad negotiator, then I have not negotiated in the last phase; I have not gone. Those negotiations do not yield results because in the end they come and say – this is our goal. They don’t just say it to us; they state that agenda in the UN and mentioned it during the meeting between Blinken-Mirzoyan-Bairamov yesterday and today.”

Azerbaijan tells us the first point is to dissolve the defense army. We should dissolve it and then go for a meeting. Let me clarify the sequence: you go and declare that you have dissolved the army, you are dismantling the state governance system. They can barely create a mechanism for community elections, after which they will give gas and electricity and let you go and come as a citizen of Azerbaijan. I am not against negotiations; I am not against meetings. I have been the most supportive of this, and I have participated in the most meetings. We must understand that we will have issues to tackle; all of them are surmountable, people, we have two things to do – self-defense and enhancing resilience. In this regard, what have we done and what should we do if there is a willingness, we will discuss separately,” he concluded.