Phased settlement of Karabakh conflict will delay its comprehensive solution, according to NKR President's Spokesman David Babayan.
When commenting on the Azerbaijani president's statement that the only solution to the Karabakh conflict is a phased settlement, Babayan said to ArmInfo: "We have repeatedly stressed that we campaign for a comprehensive settlement of the Karabakh conflict. It implies a package settlement. Baku insists on a phased settlement. Well, if it wants a phased settlement, let it recognize the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic as a first step. We, in turn, will recognize Azerbaijan and it will be possible to sit at the negotiating table and discuss the other items of the settlement".
Babayan thinks that in fact Azerbaijan wants no comprehensive settlement and it resorts to every possible trick to delay the peace process. He stressed that the Azerbaijani understanding of a phased settlement is unacceptable.
At the same time, when responding to Aliyev's remarks that Azerbaijan has allegedly liberated 2000 ha of territory during the April aggression against Nagorno-Karabakh, Babayan said: "Who have they liberated the territory from? If they were cleaning the land from weed plants during their aggression against Karabakh, then they probably liberated the territory from the weed plants. It is no secret that Azerbaijan has always been distorting facts. Even in the Soviet times, according to Azerbaijani documents, the cotton yield in Azerbaijan was higher that the cotton yield of Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan rolled into one. I qualify such statements of Baku as one more provocation and an attempt to legitimize its power in its own society's eyes," he said.