Pashinyan: all statements about non-existence of Nagorno-Karabakh are irrelevant

YEREVAN, September 2. /ARKA/. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan issued a congratulatory message on Friday on the occasion of the 31st anniversary of the proclamation of the Republic of Artsakh.

"Thirty-one years ago on this day, at the joint session of the deputies of all levels of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast and the Shahumyan region the decision to adopt a declaration of independence of Nagorno-Karabakh by exercising the right to self-determination was adopted. This decision of our compatriots was a response to the existential threat manifested by the Armenian pogroms in Azerbaijani cities of Sumgait, Baku and Kirovabad. This decision was taken as a guarantee to protect the security and rights of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh," Pashinyan said in his message.

The Armenian Prime Minister noted that the declaration of independence was followed by the December 10, 1991 referendum, the 1st Artsakh war, the 4-day war and the 44-day war.

"The fact that our compatriots continue to live in Nagorno-Karabakh, or in part of it, has remained unchanged. And they have the right to live in their homeland, in a safe environment where their rights are protected. Actually, this is the essence of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem," he stressed.

According to Pashinyan, all statements on non-existence of Nagorno-Karabakh as a territorial unit and Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement are irrelevant until the security and protection of Artsakh Armenians' rights are irreversibly resolved and therefore the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh status, regarding which the OSCE Minsk Group has an internationally approved and unrevoked mandate.

He stressed that the international community is obliged to make efforts to solve humanitarian problems caused by the 44-day war and to prevent the policy of ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh.

"The Republic of Armenia will continue to assist in ensuring normal life in Nagorno-Karabakh, in security issues and protection of human rights… Our task is to ensure the Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians’ inalienable right to live and create peacefully through peaceful, civilized means, through negotiations. Today we humbly remember our brothers and sisters who died for defending the rights of our compatriots in Nagorno-Karabakh, and our duty before them is to ensure a peaceful Nagorno-Karabakh, a peaceful Armenia, a peaceful South Caucasus," the Prime Minister said in his message. -0-