YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 15, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has addressed the NK conflict settlement in an intereview to the French newspaper Le Monde.

Asked how he plans to overcome the diplomatic deadlock which exists between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the Nagorno Karabakh issue, the PM said: “Let’s consider the reality which exists. The Azerbaijani government wants to create an impression that Nagorno Karabakh must be in Azerbaijan’s territory but they want to achieve this goal without having dialogue with the government of Nagorno Karabakh? I don’t understand the logic here – to say that Nagorno Karabakh should be within the same state as Azerbaijan but not to be willing to talk to it [NK] about this. Azerbaijan is contradicting itself. If Baku is willing to live in the composition of the same state as Nagorno Karabakh, it must be interested in negotiating with Nagorno Karabakh as soon as possible, or Baku wants to [take over] Nagorno Karabakh without the people who are living there. This will mean that Azerbaijan wants to expel or annihilate the residents of Nagorno Karabakh. [Perhaps] Baku is preparing for a new genocide against Armenians in Nagorno Karabakh? If so, then the government of Nagorno Karabakh has the validity to claim that Armenians cannot live in the territory of the same state as Azerbaijan, because being a part of Azerbaijan is a threat to any citizen of Nagorno Karabakh.”

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan