Yerevan /Mediamax/. Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian announced that the Armenian side has never discussed and never will the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh being autonomous region of Azerbaijan during negotiations.

Armenian Foreign Minister said this today during a joint press-conference with Chairperson-in-Office and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Yerevan.

To recap, after the meeting in St. Petersburg, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, returning to Baku, said that he was ready to discuss the issue of Karabakh’s autonomy, bringing Nakhijevan as an example, saying that they spoke about it during the meeting in St. Petersburg.

Minister Nalbandian called Aliyev’s statement “fabricated” today.

According to him, Azerbaijan is trying to show the public that these agreements were in favor of them.

“I do not think that this approach could be useful for negotiations. Once populated by Armenians, Nakhijevan is completely emptied now, Armenian cultural heritage is destroyed, and it is now brought as an example by Azerbaijani President as a perspective for Nagorno- Karabakh. This is a bright example of why it cannot and will not be a subject of negotiations”, said Edward Nalbandian.

Nalbandian recalled that the Co-Chair countries at the highest level have repeatedly stated that the status of Nagorno Karabakh should be decided by the free will of the people of Karabakh, which will have international legal force.