The cornerstone of Artsakh’s foreign policy is the expansion of the scope of Artsakh’s international recognition and international cooperation, the strengthening of interaction and friendship between Artsakh and other states, and the expansion of the Republic’s involvement in the peace process, Foreign Minister Masis Mayilian told a press conference today.
The Minister said 2019 was quite effective in terms of realization of the goals.
“Not only have efforts continued to strengthen Artsakh’s international relations, but steps have been taken to expand the geography of Artsakh’s international cooperation. Thus, the working visits of the Artsakh delegation to Uruguay, Argentina, Australia, the United States, Russia, France and Egypt were held, within the framework of which the NKR Foreign Minister met with representatives of the political, public and scientific circles of the respective states.
The Foreign Minister of Artsakh stressed the importance of continuing the efforts on expanding the frameworks of decentralized cooperation between the administrative units of Artsakh and different countries. In this regard, Masis Mayilian noted the adoption of the resolution on establishing friendly relations between Stepanakert and the Australian city of Ryde in the run-up to the working visit of the Artsakh delegation to Australia.
A Circle of
Friendship with Artsakh was established in Australia, involving MPs and
Senators of the Federal Parliament, Ministers, as well as the Prime Minister of
the State of New South Wales, the Speakers of the Upper and Lower Houses of the
State Parliament, scientists, clergy and culture representatives. The
Declaration of Friendship signed between Hadrut region of Artsakh and Isere
Department of France in September 2019, as well as the joint Declaration signed
by Artsakh’s Foreign Minister Masis Mayilian and President of the Regional
Council of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes of the French Republic Laurent Wauquiez in
October 2019 also testify to the continued strengthening of the friendly
relations.
The Foreign Minister stressed the importance of the key
political event of the year held in Stepanakert – the Friends of Artsakh Forum
“Cooperation for the Sake of Justice and Peace” – organized jointly by the
Foreign Ministry of the Republic of Artsakh and the ARF Dashnaktsutyun.
Representatives of parliamentary Friendship Groups and Circles, twin cities, as
well as the administrative-territorial units, which had recognized the independence
of Artsakh or cooperate with Artsakh, in general, over 150 representatives from
about 30 states, participated in the Forum.
Following the Forum, the participants adopted a Declaration, in which they called on the international community to take all necessary steps to remove the obstacles to the full-fledged participation of Artsakh in the international cooperation aimed at promoting democracy, as well as strengthening peace and stability in the region. Within the frameworks of the Forum, a decision was also made to create an international network of friends of Artsakh – “ProArtsakh” – with the aim of raising awareness of Artsakh in the international arena, protecting the legitimate interests of its people and promoting the involvement of Artsakh in international processes.
Touching upon the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict settlement, Minister Mayilian said the processes of the international recognition of the Republic of Artsakh, expansion of its international integration and the negotiations on the peaceful settlement of the Azerbaijan-Karabakh conflict are proceeding in parallel.
At the same time, he stressed that the redoubling of efforts aimed at the international recognition of Artsakh would not only help alleviate Azerbaijan’s uncompromising negotiating positions, but would also contribute to raising the level of Artsakh’s security and regional stability. Masis Mayilian stressed that in order to make real progress in the peace process and reach a final settlement of the conflict, it is necessary to restore the full trilateral format of the negotiation process with the full-fledged participation of official Stepanakert.
The Foreign Minister also noted that in 2019, the peace process on the settlement of the Azerbaijan-Karabakh conflict was largely aimed at maintaining stability in the region. It was noted that in general, the ceasefire regime was maintained at the state border between Artsakh and Azerbaijan.
Emphasizing the importance of excluding the prospects of war and ensuring stability in the conflict zone, Masis Mayilian emphasized that the Artsakh authorities continued to support the OSCE mission’s regular monitoring of the ceasefire. The Foreign Minister also noted that during the year a number of confidence-building measures were agreed and implemented between the parties to the conflict aimed at creating favorable conditions for the promotion of the peace process. Masis Mayilian also underlined the importance of the meeting with the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Slovak Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak, during which the NKR Foreign Minister presented the Republic’s position on the Azerbaijan-Karabakh conflict settlement.
With the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, head of the Artsakh Union of Armenian Refugees from Azerbaijan Sarasar Saryan had an opportunity to present to the OSCE Chairman-in-Office the situation regarding the refugees in Artsakh. The Minister also noted that during the year the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs visited Stepanakert twice, met with the President of Artsakh, the Foreign Minister and the Minister of Defense.
Masis Mayilian noted that the year of 2019 marked the 25th anniversary of the most important document in the Azerbaijan-Karabakh conflict settlement process – the Agreement on the full cessation of fire and hostilities, signed by Artsakh, the Republic of Armenia and Azerbaijan, which had allowed to transfer the conflict settlement to the diplomatic realm. In this regard, on May 10, a conference was organized in Stepanakert at the initiative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Artsakh, with the participation of political and public figures from Artsakh, Armenia and Russia. Former Co-Chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group Vladimir Kazimirov participated in the conference as an honorable guest.
