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No progress in the negotiation process is possible without the participation of Artsakh, Armenia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan said addressing an international forum entitled “Pro Artsakh Forum: Cooperation for Justice and Peace” in Stepanakert on Friday.

“No one is authorized to speak on behalf of Artsakh of issues pertaining solely to Artsakh, namely of the status and the territorial integrity of Artsakh,” he said.

Kocharyan stressed the Artsakh authorities are constrained by the will of its people expressed during the 1991 referendum.

“The [Artsakh] authorities are totally constrained by how the Artsakh people defined their status. In fact, Azerbaijan pretends to be negotiating carrying out, under its cover, propaganda aimed at trying to prove to the international community that, in essence, it’s not about the self-determination, but merely a territorial dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan. This is its purpose, but the facts speak for the opposite,” the official said, citing the 1994 agreement which clearly specifies the parties to the conflict.

Kocharyan noted that in response to the Artsakh people’s right to self-determination, Azerbaijan launched barbaric actions typical of anti-civilization forces.

Summing up his speech, the deputy FM said on one hand there is the right to self-determination, while Azerbaijan insists on its right to territorial integrity on the other hand, but the international law does not allow the two rights to be opposed to each other.

“It was best reaffirmed when Serbia appealed to the international court over whether Kosovo could unilaterally declare its independence, and the ruling was unambiguous – of course it could – since people should not ask permission from anyone for self-determination," he noted.