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The European Union pursues its own interests in the South Caucasus region, the importance of which is emphasized by its location, energy and natural resources. The stability and security in the region are under threat because of Karabakh conflict between the Nagorno Karabakh Republic, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Although the conflict is defined as ‘frozen,’ experts expressed concern about a possible outbreak of a new war and its impact on regional and international developments after a recent escalation of violence on the border. To understand the Nagorno Karabakh conflict and its reasons better, and to learn more about the independence of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic, Giuliano Bifolchi, an Italian researcher and journalist, interviewed the NKR Foreign Minister Karen Mirzoyan. The interview is published on the website Notizie Geopolitiche.

The researcher notes that Italy has strengthened political and economic relations with Azerbaijan over the recent years, and now the two countries are tied together energetically, in particular, through the project Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP). Bifolch wondered if the close friendship between Italy and Azerbaijan can undermine the historical and ancient Armenian-Italian relations making obstacles for their future. The NKR Foreign Minister answered, “I do not believe that bilateral relations established with any country directly affect relations with other countries. The similar values and the rich history shared by our countries are far beyond any short-term economic interests.”

K. Mirzoyan thinks that in accordance with international law and, first of all, with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, all human beings are born free and have equal rights and freedoms, regardless of their place of birth, be it Rome, Paris, New York or Stepanakert.

“Unfortunately, while some people can use their rights freely, others, as it is in the case of the people of the NKR, must struggle to win the right to a decent life, even today in the XXI century,” K. Mirzoyan said.
He reminded the journalist that Artsakh is a historical province of Armenia, handed over to Azerbaijan in the early twentieth century. For 70 years, the Armenian population faced discriminations and harassments in Soviet Azerbaijan. From the legal point of view, NKR’s independence from Azerbaijan is in a full accordance with international law as Azerbaijan has not pleaded itself as a legal successor of the Azerbaijan SSR after the collapse of the Soviet Union and thus the country cannot have any territorial claims.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs believes that the process of international recognition of the NKR will ensure the irreversibility of the peace process and the conditions for a peaceful coexistence of two independent, sovereign states, that is, Nagorno Karabakh Republic and the Azerbaijani Republic.

“We believe that the international community will properly appreciate our efforts aimed at achieving democratic progress and state construction," the minister said, adding that although no state has still recognized the independence of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic so far, today the Republic has representations in many countries, such as the United States, France, Germany, Russia, Australia, Armenia and others. "In other words, there is always room for participation in the diplomatic process and expanding the scale and scope of cooperation with foreign countries," K. Mirzoyan said.

Further, the minister stressed that the Azerbaijani government tries to take advantage of every opportunity to divert the international attention from the violations of human rights, harassments of journalists and human rights defenders, as well as from a totalitarian regime ruling the country. According to him, the program of development and energy security, repeatedly stated by Azerbaijan, is nothing else than a red herring to force the West not to criticize the country. However, these maneuvers are not convincing.
As for Armenia, according to the minister, it is well known to everyone that the two Armenian states, the Republic of Armenia and the Nagorno Karabakh Republic, are inhabited by people of the same origin and have the same history and the same culture, but they were separated by fate for decades. Today, the Armenians are united in all areas of daily life.

He also drew attention to the fact that a possible escalation of the conflict may involve more participants than they were in the conflict between Azerbaijan and Karabakh in the early 90s. To avoid such a scenario, the international community must take a tougher stance on numerous ceasefire violations by Azerbaijan and not concede to the country’s whims just because of economic and energy interests.

According to Mirzoyan, along with substantial work done for overcoming the disagreement between all the parties of the conflict, the current format of mediation, that is the OSCE Minsk Group, operates in order to avoid worst scenarios. The OSCE Minsk Group is the only authorized intermediary for the peaceful resolution of the conflict between the NKR and Azerbaijan, and any attempt to transfer the negotiations to other platforms that do not participate in the process is unacceptable and can undermine the entire peace process, he said.

The Italian journalist wondered whether Mirzoyan considers the Nagorno Karabakh conflict another point where Moscow and the West (or the US) play their geopolitical game. The minister replied, “I believe that these statements do not reflect the real situation. I must say that Russia, together with the US and France, is a co-chair of the Minsk Group and tries to contribute to the peace process as one of the co-chairing countries. Each of the three countries is equally involved in the process of the peaceful settlement of the conflict.”