YEREVAN, DECEMBER 26, ARMENPRESS. The people of Artsakh will decide their own fate, Ararat Mirzoyan – acting first deputy prime minister of Armenia, said on Facebook, commenting on the statement of Azerbaijani foreign minister Elmar Mammadyarov, reports Armenpress.

“Azerbaijani foreign minister Mammadyarov said Baku is ready to ensure the security of Artsakh-Armenians and give them right to high-level self-governance. I advice Mr. Mammadyarov to present this proposal to the Artsakh people: eventually the people of Artsakh are the ones who will decide their own fate. That is their natural, inalienable right that is not pressured by threat or weapon, and this right sooner or later must be recognized”, Ararat Mirzoyan said.

Earlier Armenian foreign ministry spokeswoman Anna Naghdalyan, in response to the inquiry of Public TV’s Lurer program, commented on Mammadyarov’s statement on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement, emphasizing that Armenia reaffirms its clear position on the supremacy of the status and security of Nagorno Karabakh in the negotiation package.

“There can be 2 approaches towards this announcement. We can reaffirm our clear stance on the priority of status and security of Nagorno Karabakh in the negotiation package, giving reasonable clarifications for both approaches. Anyway, we think it’s necessary to display restraint in public announcements, supporting the negotiations, if, of course, there is sincere wish to respect the commitment towards the negotiations. This refers to the cases when attempts are made to present one’s own one-sided opinions as preconditions. No one should decide the will of the people of Nagorno Karabakh but themselves.

Preconditions, let alone threats, can have no impact on our position. Demonstration of both optimism and pessimism are equally ineffective methods for having any influence on the process. It’s necessary to be realistic and to find a solution that will be acceptable for all the involved sides”, Anna Naghdalyan said.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan