“I believe that we should appeal to Russia, all actors taking an interest in the situation [in and around Karabakh] with a proposal to organize a meeting with Azerbaijan on the existing situation, security issues and the disastrous humanitarian situation in Artsakh,” Gurgen Nersisian, the Karabakh premier, said in a video message posted on Facebook.
“The results of that meeting should be presented to our public and appropriate decisions should be made afterwards,” added Nersisian.
Azerbaijani officials and Karabakh representatives were reportedly due to meet in Bulgaria’s capital Sofia in early July for talks organized by Western mediators. Karabakh sources said it was rescheduled for August 1 but then cancelled by the Azerbaijani side. Baku wants such negotiations to be held in Azerbaijani proper, according to them.
A spokeswoman for Arayik Harutiunian, the Karabakh president, confirmed last week that he accepted an Azerbaijani proposal to hold the meeting in the Azerbaijani town of Yevlakh on August 5. She said Stepanakert cancelled it for security reasons after Azerbaijani security forces arrested a seriously ill Karabakh resident as he was evacuated to Armenia through the Lachin corridor.
Nersisian said the talks should take place at the Karabakh headquarters of Russian peacekeepers or “in any other safe venue” because “nobody can guarantee the physical security of our citizens in Azerbaijan.” They must also be held “with the participation of a third party,” he said.
Baku maintains that the dialogue must focus on Karabakh’s “reintegration into Azerbaijan” rejected by Stepanakert. The Karabakh leadership says it must first and foremost address the Azerbaijani blockade of the Lachin corridor which has caused severe shortages of food, medicine and energy in the Armenian-populated region. It has dismissed an alternative, Azerbaijani-controlled supply route proposed by the Azerbaijani side.
Nersisian charged that Baku’s key aim is to commit “genocide” or at least force the Karabakh Armenians to leave their homeland.
“Therefore, claims that making concessions in response to Azerbaijan’s demands could give us a breathing space are unserious,” he said. “They are baseless illusions. On the contrary, they would further complicate our situation.”