At a briefing in the Armenian Parliament on June 26, Speaker of Armenian Parliament Alen Simonyan said that the rights and security of Armenians in Karabakh are important because this issue cannot be forgotten, or the problem will remain unresolved.

Simonyan said while commenting on Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov's statement that no special guarantee will be given to Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians. "It seems to me that this statement damages the Azerbaijani side itself. In this case, the problem will not be solved. They run away from reality; they benefit from not discussing these issues. But I am sure they will come to this issue at some stage. I think they are doing it to raise the bar before the negotiations and to use it in the negotiations. This is my personal opinion," the official said.

Answering the question, "Will Azerbaijan agree to the creation of an international mechanism for the Baku-Stepanakert [Khankendi in Azerbaijani] dialogue," the speaker said: "The rights and security of Armenians in Karabakh are important because this issue cannot be forgotten. Otherwise, the problem will remain unresolved. This is self-deception. If Azerbaijan is ready to engage in self-deception, Armenia is not. We have declared it, and we stand by the statement."

The speaker emphasized that Karabakh is the main cause of the 30-year conflict between the two countries, and this issue cannot be ignored. Simonyan also said that he does not know whether the issue of Karabakh Armenians will be included in the peace agreement. "I don't know whether this part will be included in the peace agreement or whether there will be any other document about it because specific guarantees are needed. Because we witnessed the non-compliance with the November 9 [trilateral] statement. If this issue has not been discussed and a decision has not been made, it means at least that a large part of these negotiations is meaningless," he said.

In addition, Alen Simonyan said that he hopes that progress will be made at the Washington meeting of the foreign ministers.

Read more about Bayramov's remarks: Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Rejects Special Guarantees for Armenian Population in Karabakh