Gevorg Papoyan, a member of the NA KP faction, referred to the Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiation process.
“To withdraw from the negotiations means to say that we are going on the path of war. That’s not true, and that’s not how we move forward. On the other hand, preparing for peace does not mean handing over weapons and surrendering,” he said.
According to Papoyan, preparing for peace may also imply an increase in the army’s combat capability. “We want both Armenia and Azerbaijan not to have territories where Armenia and Azerbaijan became independent from the U.S.S.R. with a specific map according to the Alma-Ata Declaration, and we want those maps to be placed, and then their specific coordinates and the commission should go there and say, for example, that the Armenian-Azerbaijani border passes here near such and such a village,” he said in a briefing with journalists.
The MP countered the observation that Azerbaijan rejects the maps presented by the Armenian side. “Let Azerbaijan propose another map that will have legal validity. It can be brought to the B.C. map of the second century. It’s not serious. The map after the Turkmencha Treaty of 1828 can be cited. It’s not serious, either. We should bring a map showing where Armenia and Azerbaijan were independent states or within the U.S.S.R.; certain borders had legal bases. We are now saying a 1974 map, but if a 1960 map that still has a legal basis comes along, we have no problem with it in principle. That map must be approved by the Supreme Council of the Azerbaijan S.S.R., the Supreme Council of the Armenian S.S.R., or the Supreme Council of the U.S.S.R. It should be an official document.”
