Armenia's Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan looks pessimistically at the prospect of Armenians returning to Nagorno-Karabakh.
"Our authorities also, in our assessment, made all possible efforts after the 2020 war so that the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh continue to live in Nagorno-Karabakh and be endowed with certain rights. These efforts and this fact, I believe, did not receive the right attitude of the current and possibly former authorities of Nagorno-Karabakh, and in some ways, that's why we have what we have," said Mirzoyan said at his press conference held Wednesday.
"You ask a question: as the Minister of Foreign Affairs [of Armenia], do I negotiate on the return of Armenians to Nagorno-Karabakh? We talked about living in Nagorno Karabakh at the time when Armenians lived in Nagorno Karabakh. Return under what conditions? I asked the representatives of the [Armenian] political forces the same question: as part of some autonomous structure, or as citizens of Azerbaijan who will have the right to learn Armenian language at school?" said Mirzoyan.
There was a negative response to the question of whether there were negotiations about this.
"Now that everything has happened, when there are no Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh, you are asking in Yerevan about returning to Nagorno-Karabakh. It's just great. Unfortunately, I can't say anything good about it. Our government's policy is to ensure that our compatriots forcibly displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh can meet their primary needs," the Armenian FM said.
He added that the short-term problems have been solved, the medium- and long-term problems follow, including providing them with housing and work, and the Armenian authorities are ready to do everything for their full integration in Armenia.
