YEREVAN, JULY 27, ARMENPRESS. The position of the Armenian side regarding the need to address the rights and security issues of the people of Nagorno Karabakh in the context of achieving long-term peace in the region has not changed, ARMENPRESS reports, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan stated in response to the journalists' question whether Yerevan continues to insist that there be an international mechanism for the Baku-Stepanakert dialogue, or was the Russian Foreign Minister talking about the meeting without it.

"We have repeatedly emphasized that these issues should be addressed through the Baku-Stepanakert dialogue, and the effectiveness of this dialogue can only be guaranteed through international involvement and an effective mechanism," the Foreign Minister emphasized.

Ararat Mirzoyan responded to the observation that after the tripartite negotiations between the Foreign Ministers of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan in Moscow, it is understood from the words of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov that the topic of the rights of the Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh was linked to the topic of the protection of the rights of national minorities in Armenia.

"The issue of addressing the rights and security of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh has always been the cornerstone of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and during the negotiations with Azerbaijan on July 25 in Moscow and in other capitals before that, the Armenian side raised and continues to raise the issue of rights and security guarantees of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh.

In fact, it is also recorded in the tripartite declaration of November 9, 2020, where the concepts of Nagorno-Karabakh, Nagorno-Karabakh territory, and contact line with Nagorno-Karabakh are specifically mentioned. The seventh point of the same tripartite declaration also stipulates the return of refugees to the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh and neighboring regions, which has not been implemented by Azerbaijan so far. We are talking here about Hadrut, Shushi, Martakert, Askeran, Shahumyan, Getashen regions.

Of course, the Armenian side also records the rights of Armenians who were forcibly displaced from various settlements of Azerbaijan in 1988-1991, particularly from Baku, Kirovabad, Sumgait and other places, before that also from the Autonomous Republic of Nakhichevan, and the issues raised by them."

According to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia, the problem of ensuring the rights and security of the Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh, the indigenous people of the region, is a completely different issue that cannot be related with anything else. It cannot in any way be related to other citizens, including the rights of "citizens living in the Republic of Armenia" (in the words of the Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation), stipulated by international obligations and fully provided by the Republic of Armenia.

"Accordingly, during the last tripartite meeting in Moscow, there was no discussion beyond this logic, and even more so, there was no agreement," Ararat Mirzoyan concluded.