Azerbaijan opposed Artsakh people’s self-determination right with military force: Vigen Sargsyan

In the period of the USSR collapse, the people of the Republic of Artsakh exercised their right to selfdetermination within the frameworks of legislation and international legal norms and was able to form an effective state administration system during years, a clear model of economic and democratic development, Armenia’s defense minister Vigen Sargsyan said in his speech at the visiting session of the Valdai international dialogue club.

“Unfortunately, at that time Azerbaijan opposed the self-determination right of the Artsakhi people with military force. And despite the significant difference in arsenal and demographics, the people of Artsakh were able to defense their rights, form an effective system of state administration.

Today, Artsakh is advancing with its own model of economic development, it is developing democracy, and all of this is significantly different from what Azerbaijan has to offer,” Sargsyan said.

He reminded that Armenia is the guarantor of security of the people of Artsakh and for already 29 years it is forced to defend the physical security of the Artsakh population.

“Today Azerbaijan is regularly breaching the ceasefire regime, therefore the Armed Forces of Armenia, the Defense Army of Artsakh are forced to adequately respond to the adversary’s actions and prevent attempts of solving the conflict militarily,” he said.