Zohrab Mnatsakanyan: Nagorno-Karabakh issue 'too sensitive' to be limited to winners and losers

The conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) is a much more delicate and sensitive issue than just a problem dealing with winners of losers, Armenia’s foreign minister said Friday, commenting upon the achievements in the peace process in the past 25 years (since the signing of the 1994 ceasefire agreement).

In an interview with Tert.am, Zohrab Mnatsakanyan expressed hope that Azerbaijan will eventually enter into to the peace negotiations, avoiding the status of a defeating or defeated party. “For us, it is not absolutely a matter of a winner or loser. Our responsibility and sensitivity is really great and extremely obliging. And I am hopeful that the other side too, is guiding itself by the same sentiments in an effort to reach a peaceful breakthrough,” he added.  

Mnatsakanyan said he thinks that Armenia ''is armed with enough patience '' to see everything in a specific context and observe positive dynamics. “And we had numerous occasions to say why this actually contributes to effectiveness - which we have stated repeatedly”.

Asked how they envision future processes, the minister said he treats the entire problem as a "crucial test for the nation". “We are facing the worst risks dealing with the physical existence of our people. That’s the whole understanding. As to the focal point of our approach, it deals with security, the security of a concrete individual - with a name and surname. It deals with physical security, [the urgent need of] ensuring that physical security and the problem of status stemming therefrom. As to our ability to move in that direction, it’s a test for all of us,” he noted.

The minister admitted that the ceasefire agreement, signed in Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) on May 5, 1994, was very unique in terms of its value as the only deal paving way to a relative peace. Meantime he agreed that there have been repeated ceasefire violations over the period, culminating eventually in the 2016 Four-Day April War.

''But it isn’t over yet, as no breakthrough has been reached so far. All this has, certainly, its risks so to speak, which we are trying to reduce with our united efforts. The developments over the past days give ground to concern ... And by the way, the mutual contact worked really well to establish a certain control over the process. The concern is really great for us. And this, definitely, is the agenda item which we are going to pursue,'' he added.

Asked whether verbal agreements are thought to be enough in the negotiations with Azerbaijan (which perceives the situation in a kind of equivocal way, hurling strong accusations), Mnatsakanyan agreed that the arrangements reached in Vienna and St Petersburg haven’t been implemented to the full but added that Armenia ''has its methods and approaches'' to exercise control for monitoring ceasefire violations. “Vienna and St Petersburg have not been excluded from our agenda. They are in place … what we speak about deals with the formats contained in those documents.”

The minister added that they are committed to any format allowing for reducing the escalation risks. “That may be any format – verbal or written – which we will be able to realize. We, after all, know that there is a ceasefire, which was violated; yet that ceasefire is and remains in place. The same goes for [the requirement] to reduce the risks. Our efforts now should focus on strengthening the ceasefire agreement through lowering the risks - and the maintenance of truce,” he added.  

Asked what strategies are being pursued to realize the assigned tasks, and whether and how the international mediators assist in the process, the minister said he thinks that the issue deals directly with the conflicting parties in the first place.

“That, first of all, deals with the parties, which keep to the mediation format. And  that mediation, logically, the maintenance and strengthening of that format, has been and remains an extremely serious and important objective for us, as the format itself has revealed the capacities of the countries involved, their experience, influence and weight in international relations …”

Asked about the humanitarian cooperation, agreed between the Armenian prime minister and the Azerbaijani president and later also – between the two countries’ foreign ministers – Mnatsakanyan said that the arrangements reached (including also on the mutual visits of journalists) are "within the logic" of the policies pursued.

Asked whether the call for preparing the populations for peace is realistic in the light of Azerbaijan’s rhetoric (including the threats to seize Yerevan as an “Azerbaijani territory”), the minister replied, “If that’s the tactics we have, are we really expected to feel satisfied with that? Is our sense of self-confidence shattered at all to allow us to address the topic from a different perspective?”