Armenia proposes joint roadmap with Azerbaijan on ending 'Karabakh issue'

ISTANBUL

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan proposed to Azerbaijan the adoption of a joint roadmap on ending the "Karabakh issue."

"I am making a direct proposal (to Azerbaijan): let us sit down and develop a roadmap for how we remove this issue," Pashinyan told a press briefing in Germany, according to state news agency Armenpress on Thursday.

Pashinyan's statement came in response to an Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry statement on Tuesday regarding the adoption of a strategic agenda between Armenia and the EU earlier this month. Baku criticized the wording, “Karabakh Armenians displaced following Azerbaijan’s military operations,” in the document.

It also defined their classification as “refugees” as a "vivid example of bias against Azerbaijan."

Describing the "return of Armenians to Karabakh" as a dangerous subject, Pashinyan argued that the removal of the issue would mean "eliminating any potential conflict situation" in the long-term.

"I have also told our people from Karabakh that their return is not realistic," Pashinyan added.

"If we continue to maintain the agenda of return, it means we are once again restarting the Karabakh movement — but I have said that we must not restart the Karabakh movement. The Karabakh movement has come to an end, and attempts to revive it are not useful.

"But on the other hand, in Armenia we also see that Azerbaijan constantly uses the incomprehensible term ‘western Azerbaijan,’" he added.

Azerbaijan has yet to officially comment on the proposal.