President: Azerbaijani attempts to interpret principles its way won't work

I have repeatedly said that various conflicts cannot be viewed in the same dimension as there are different approaches to resolution of conflicts, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said today at a joint press conference with French counterpart Francois Hollande.

“Each conflict has its background and history, and there are prerequisites for the resolution of each one. Each subject of international law conditions its perceptions and solutions to the problem by these prerequisites.

More than once the heads and representatives of the Co-chair states have expressed both verbally and in writing their common opinion: the final status of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic should be determined through a free expression of popular will, which has legally binding force. There is no alternative to this principle. I reiterate that this has been stated repeatedly by Presidents and Foreign Ministers of the United States, France and Russia and their representatives in the Minsk Group.

The last such approach was presented to the public by the Minsk Group U.S. Co-chair who said nothing new. He said what their President has said on numerous occasions. The Co-chairs’ statement on the 20th anniversary of the ceasefire contained the same approach.

However hard Azerbaijani leaders try to interpret these approaches, these principles in their own way, it will not work. I want to say once again that I do not share the opinion, the statement that various countries allegedly show double standards. These are not double standards. These approaches stem from history and prerequisites of conflicts. I do not see any change, even under conditions of the toughest conflict,” President Sargsyan said.

It should be noted that Francois Hollande said in his speech at the start of the press conference that France stands ready to arrange a meeting of Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan to achieve a peaceful resolution to the Karabakh conflict.

“Yesterday I visited Azerbaijan, today I am in Armenia and I have reaffirmed our willingness as a Minsk Group Co-chair to assist with the conflict resolution. There is a ceasefire today, which is not enough. A final resolution to the problem is necessary,” F. Hollande said.