The Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia, Armen Grigoryan, said earlier today (29 July) that the separation of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue from the peace process was something which was worth discussing.
Speaking to Armenpress, Grigoryan stated that Armenia was fully committed to the peace process as a state strategy, and that the government was taking responsibility for the implementation of the agenda. He noted that the road map to peace was already known, and that it included the delimitation and demarcation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, followed by the opening of regional communications. The first meeting of the border demarcation committees has already taken place, and Grigoryan announced that the second session is set for the second half of August in Moscow.
During his interview, he also touched upon the recognition of the status of Nagorno-Karabakh, re-affirming the Armenian government’s position that it has no territorial claims against Azerbaijan, but that it views the guarantee of the security and rights of Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh as fundamental. He added that the idea of separating the Nagorno-Karabakh issue from the issue of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations was now something which should be actively discussed and assessed. While he noted that it was too early to talk about a full resolution of all other problems, he accepted that disconnecting the two issues might entail signing a peace treaty with Azerbaijan without having agreed a final solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh problem. Finally, he said that Armenia was heading in the right direction, towards a deal with Azerbaijan, though he highlighted the importance of resolving certain humanitarian issues such as the return of Armenian detainees and the preservation of cultural heritage.