Azernews.Az

YEREVAN – Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan has reportedly claimed that the only option to resolve the long-standing Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict peacefully is to hold a referendum in Nagorno Karabakh or recognizing the 1991 vote on the Azerbaijani region’s status that allegedly complied with the Soviet Union’s legislation and international law.

The separatist regime in the Nagorno Karabakh region, which has been under Armenian occupation since a war in the early 1990s, held an illegal referendum in December 1991 with the participation of only Armenian residents. The voters supported so-called independence of the region, which has not been recognized by the world community.

Sargsyan said in an interview with Russia’s Ekho Moskvy radio station that the Karabakh conflict could be resolved strictly based on compromise.

"I don’t think there’s anything new in what I am saying, because in 2007 the [mediating] OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs offered us a document dubbed the Madrid principles. And these principles envision a settlement of the conflict based on compromise.

There are three principles. The first one is the territorial integrity [of states], while the second one is the self-determination of nations, and the third one is non-use of force and threats. It is clear what territorial integrity and self-determination mean, and the third principle is crystal clear as well," Sargsyan said.

He said that in 2007 both Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to seek resolution of the conflict on the basis of these principles "after a long contemplation".

"However, as time went by, Azerbaijan has increasingly put forth its own interpretation of these principles. And when it comes to the self-determination notion, they are saying "yes", it will stand, but within Azerbaijan. Clearly, such self-determination could be regarded as merely an abridged one, so to speak. Secondly, [they say] non-use of force does apply, but only in case a given country does not have any occupied territories."

Regarding possible concessions on Yerevan’s part, he said the Armenians "do not want to return a single inch of land".

"But on the other hand, we should actually understand that any solution should lead to lasting peace. Therefore, such compromises are necessary. But, certainly, there should be guarantees that sustainable peace will indeed be established. And it shouldn’t be the way Azerbaijanis are saying: ‘let them give us everything back, and then we’ll talk about the fate of Karabakh’. That’s not how it works."

The Azerbaijani government has said it rules out recognition of the illegal referendum held in 1991.