YEREVAN. – The Karabakh issue can be resolved only when Azerbaijan gets down to reality, abandons its unrealistic expectations from the talks’ outcome, President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan said in response to Azerbaijani delegation during the Munich Security Conference panel .

The question of the first secretary of the Embassy of Azerbaijan in Germany was so long that he was interrupted by a moderator.

“I want to ask you a question from the outset; my question is a bit rhetorical: How do you think to settle the Karabakh issue if your country’s president makes territorial claims against Yerevan, the 2800th anniversary of which we will be celebrating this October?

The Karabakh issue can be resolved and, though I have some doubts about it, you can return to Karabakh or the surrounding regions only when your country’s government gets down to reality, abandons its unrealistic expectations from the talks’ outcome.

You want to live freely; you want to live in Karabakh. Believe me that the people of Karabakh, too, want to live in freedom on their historic homeland where they have a millennia-old legacy, and they do not want you to destroy that heritage,” President Sargsyan said.

President said it is well known why some regions of Azerbaijan came under the control of Nagorno-Karabakh’s self-defense forces.

“You know that the Karabakhi people just held a referendum in a civilized manner and appealed to the USSR Supreme Soviet to hand over the autonomous region of Nagorno-Karabakh from Azerbaijan to Armenia in the manner prescribed by the then applicable law of the Soviet Union.

Instead, the Azerbaijani authorities tried to squeeze Karabakh people’s legitimate demands and wishes. By the way, I must say that at that time all European structures had a very positive attitude as they stated: “Yes, Nagorno-Karabakh has the right to self-determination. Unfortunately, honey is not served out in war. I hate the war. But it turned out that we had to create a security zone to protect ourselves,” Sargsyan emphasized.

“Once again, I would like reiterate from this reputable podium that we are prepared for a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue should you show good sense – I do not mean the people of Azerbaijan, I mean the leadership of Azerbaijan – and actually proceed to negotiations realizing that the problem can only be resolved through compromises. I do not want to take time off; I just want to say that it is time to sober up.

Yerevan has 2800 years of history; the Armenians have been living in their historic homeland for over 5,000 years now, and Azerbaijanis or other peoples can not break the will of the Armenian people. Thank you for your questionnaire.”