STEPANAKERT. – Relations with Artsakh will have new manifestations, and I hope that a new breath will be given to international recognition of Artsakh.

The new Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, on Wednesday noted the abovementioned at a press conference in Stepanakert, the capital city of the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh Republic).

“We all became convinced that there will be effective cooperation regarding ensuring the security of Artsakh and Armenia; that matter will be at the focus of the [Armenian] government,” Pashinyan said, in particular. “We have agreed on with what steps we will go forward.”

When asked what steps should be taken so that Karabakh returns to the negotiating table, the new Armenian PM responded as follows: “If Azerbaijan or the international community wants to resolve the matter, it’s illogical that this matter is discussed with a format by which it cannot be resolved. How can this negotiating format resolve a matter when one of whose key participants [i.e. Karabakh] does not participate in the negotiations?”

In the new Armenian premier’s words, the Armenian parties have always favored a pacific resolution to the Karabakh conflict, whereas Azerbaijan continuously uses a militaristic rhetoric in his regard.

“As long as Azerbaijan uses bellicose rhetoric and speaks about taking [Armenia’s capital city of] Yerevan, Zangezur [region], it’s meaningless to speak about compromises,” Pashinyan added, in particular. “We can speak about it when we will receive a message from Azerbaijan that Baku ready to recognize Artsakh’s right to self-determination.”

He noted, however, that when they say the matter should be resolved by negotiations, this does not get in the way of increasing the efforts toward the international recognition of Artsakh.

“The international community must record that the substance of the Artsakh problem is the matter of human rights because that matter arose as a result of when Azerbaijan not only was not able to ensure the minimal rights of the Armenian population of NKAO [Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast of the ex-USSR], but, also, it created a direct threat to their right to life and [national] identity. Those threats were expressed with specific actions against the peaceful population.”