Armenia will recognize Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan if security guaranteed: PM

Armenia is ready to recognize the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave as part of Azerbaijan if Baku guarantees the security of its ethnic Armenian population, the Russian state news agency TASS and the Russian news outlet Ostorozhno, Novosti quoted Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan as saying on Monday.

Nagorno-Karabakh has been a source of conflict between the two Caucasus neighbors since the years leading up to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, and between ethnic Armenians and Turkic Azeris for well over a century.

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  Yerevan recognizes the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, which includes Nagorno-Karabakh, provided that the safety of its Armenian population is ensured, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at a press conference on Monday.

"Armenia recognizes Azerbaijan’s territory of 86,600 square kilometers, assuming that Azerbaijan is willing to recognize the territorial integrity of Armenia’s 29,800 square kilometers. Azerbaijan’s 86,600 square kilometer territory includes Nagorno-Karabakh but we would like to point out that the issue of the rights and safety of Nagorno-Karabakh’s Armenians should be discussed between Baku and Stepenakert," Pashinyan said.

He also requested international safeguards for the safety and rights of Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh, expressing concern that without them, Azerbaijan could allegedly carry out ethnic cleansing in the region.