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Armenia has agreed to the dissolution of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmanship format because if there is no conflict then there is no sense in having a format dealing with the conflict, PM Pashinyan has said.
“We agree to the dissolution of the Minsk Group co-chairmanship with the following substantiation, if there is no conflict, then what’s the meaning of the format dealing with servicing the conflict,” the Prime Minister said at a press conference. “But we want to make sure that the dissolution of the Minsk Group co-chairmanship has the same meaning for Azerbaijan as well, and that Azerbaijan doesn’t seek to dissolve the co-chairmanship to create new conflict with the basis of developing territorial demands against Armenia’s territories. Meaning, if this means peace, then why do we need the OSCE Minsk Group?”
However, the Armenian PM noted that there is no sense in dissolving the group if that format somehow hinders Azerbaijan from inciting new conflict.
“If this [MG] somehow stands in the way for Azerbaijan to create some conflict, then what’s the meaning in dissolving that group? If that would mean greenlighting Azerbaijan to make and advance territorial demands against Armenia, then what’s the meaning of doing that? Are there grounds that Azerbaijan could have such intentions? Yes there are such grounds. And the most important of them is the narrative of ‘Western Azerbaijan’ which is a direct encroachment against the territorial integrity of Armenia,” Pashinyan said.
The fact that an organization named Western Azerbaijan exists and this narrative is being generated implies that Armenia’s territorial integrity is not recognized, Pashinyan said.
“I repeat, western Azerbaijan is the western regions of Azerbaijan. There cannot be western Azerbaijan in the territory of Armenia. Any topic under this wording is undiscussable for Armenia,” he said.