YEREVAN, AUGUST 23, ARMENPRESS. Defense Minister of Armenia Seyran Ohanyan finds the difference of values systems between Armenia and Azerbaijan as one of the obstacles for reaching some kind of conflict settlement, “Armenpress” reports Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan told the participants of “Baze-2016” annual youth camp. Answering the question how long the conflict settlement process will be prolonged, Ohanyan said, “We and our adversaries have different understanding of heroism. To become a hero in Armenia means to scud into war and sacrifice the life for the sake of motherland, while our adversaries believe heroism is to kill a sleeping man with an axe, behead and so on. They once again demonstrated their real face during the April war”, the Minister said.

The Minister added that the confrontation will last for a long time, as long as the parties have not found mutually acceptable values. “It will continue as long as there are no mutually acceptable settlement options and no joint positions on establishing security systems”, Seyran Ohanyan stated.

In his words, the 4-day April war has to some extent accelerated the negotiation process of peaceful settlement of the conflict. “In the sidelines of the negotiations we see there are meetings and agreements. The goal of the meetings is preserving the negotiation process and establishing confidence mechanisms. We have always said that an atmosphere of trust is required for reaching a conflict settlement through negotiations. This means that ceasefire violations, subversive acts and militaristic rhetoric must be ruled out. We always tell the Co-chair countries that it is their responsibility and there must be relevant regulations for international investigative mechanisms. I have also told the Co-chairs that they have the opportunity to see the movement of the smallest animal on the planet, but they are unable to make use of that opportunity to detect which side violates the ceasefire”, Ohanyan said.

The Minister stated that the conflict must be settled through exclusively peaceful method, which is the official position of Armenia. “But during the last years the Azerbaijani authorities have tried to exert pressure on the Armenia side by the use of force and to make one-sided gains”, Ohanyan said, adding that at the moment negotiations are underway and if Azerbaijan does not imitate to be interested in negotiations, it is possible to reach a settlement, but if Azerbaijan plans a new war, Armenia will stand firmly and protect its dignity.