Armenia to recognize Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan
Armenian Prime Minister Pashinyan said Armenia is ready to recognize Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan if the security of the Armenian population is ensured. The statement comes after last week's trilateral talks between Azerbaijan, Armenia and the Council of Europe.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on Monday that Armenia is ready to recognize Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan, provided that the security of the Armenian population in the region is ensured.
"Armenia recognizes Azerbaijan's 86,600 square kilometers (33,436 square miles) assuming that Azerbaijan is willing to recognize the territorial integrity of Armenia's 29,800 square kilometers (11,505 square miles). Azerbaijan's 86,600 square kilometer territory includes Nagorno-Karabakh," Nikol Pashinyan said during a press conference in the capital Yerevan.
Pashinyan's statement follows his tripartite talks in Brussels last week with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and European Council President Charles Michel.
NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT
Relations between the two countries have been strained since 1991, when they broke away from the Soviet Union and Armenia occupied Nagorno-Karabakh and 7 neighboring regions, internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan.
In the fall of 2020, during 44 days of fighting, the Azerbaijani army was able to liberate several villages, cities and settlements from Armenian occupation. The Russian-brokered peace agreement was celebrated as a triumph in Azerbaijan.
Pashinyan further said that Armenia's potential withdrawal from the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) remains on Yerevan's agenda, but only if the organization becomes "incompetent."
"If Armenia de jure decides to withdraw from the CSTO, then this will happen after Armenia records that the CSTO has left Armenia. Such an agenda exists if the CSTO becomes an inactive organization. Then we will have to decide our own security issues," Pashinyan added.
The CSTO is an intergovernmental military alliance in Eurasia consisting of six post-Soviet states: Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan.
Source: Anadolu Agency
