Foreign Minister: We are not negotiating surrender of villages in  Tavush region to Azerbaijan

ArmInfo. Not a single government official of Armenia has the right to negotiate the surrender of this or that village, this or that territory. RA Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan stated on March 15 during a hearing in the RA NA Standing Committee on Foreign Relation, at which the implementation of the RA government program was discussed, opposing MP from the "Armenia" opposition faction Kristina Vardanyan.

The MP, in particular, raised the question of the authorities'  intentions to hand over four villages in the Tavush region of Armenia  to Azerbaijan. In addition, the parliamentarian asked the minister  why it was necessary to ratify the Rome Statute if today the  authorities are talking about the possibility of withdrawing claims  in international courts.

In response, Mirzoyan noted that there is no official in Armenia who  would negotiate with Azerbaijan on the issue of transferring  villages. As the head of the RA Foreign Ministry emphasized this is  an axiom that does not require proof. The guarantee of this, the  minister continued, is legal mechanisms. "We are not negotiating the  surrender of villages in the Tavush region," the head of the RA  Foreign Ministry emphasized.

Regarding the issue of the Rome Statute, as the head of the Foreign  Ministry noted, rumors about any agreements with Azerbaijan on the  withdrawal of international judicial proceedings are not true. "There  is no agreement on this matter. Yes, numerous options are being  discussed, naturally, with the understanding that this may become  part of the general situation and environment," said the head of the  RA Foreign Ministry, adding that any actions of the country's  authorities will be coordinated and discussed in the context common  diplomatic efforts. In addition, as Mirzoyan noted, the country's  leadership never said that the Rome Statute was ratified in order to  "bring Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to trial." "As far as I  remember, such formulations have never been voiced by Armenian  officials," noted Ararat Mirzoyan.

Notably, on March 13, in a conversation with journalists, Minister of  Territorial Administration and Infrastructure of the Republic of  Armenia Gnel Sanosyan reported that the four villages claimed by  Azerbaijan were not part of the administrative territory of Armenia.  He noted that work on delimitation and demarcation in the Tavush  region has not yet begun, and there are also no specific deadlines.  At the same time, he emphasized that Armenia continues to demand from  Azerbaijan the territory of 31 non-enclaved villages under the  control of the Azerbaijani side.

On March 12, at a press conference, Prime Minister of the Republic of  Armenia Nikol Pashinyan stated that Yerevan, on the basis of  reciprocity, can withdraw lawsuits from international courts, but  this issue should be discussed at the very end of the negotiation  process, when all the provisions of the peace treaty will be agreed  upon, and the parties will only have to sign it. Earlier, in their  justifications for the need to ratify the Rome Statute, the  authorities announced the possibility of appealing to the ICC against  the Azerbaijani authorities for committing war crimes on the  territory of Armenia.