Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) are determined to “fight till the end” in the face of Azerbaijan’s continuing military offensive, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on Wednesday.

Pashinyan accused Baku of refusing to abide by a Russian-mediated ceasefire agreement with the aim of reconquering Karabakh.

“At this decisive moment, we will not cave in because this is a fateful war for our people,” he declared in a televised address to the nation aired on the 18th day of large-scale hostilities in and around Karabakh.

“The Armenian people cannot be intimidated, the Armenian people cannot be defeated,” he said. “We will fight till the end and that end is called Free and Happy Artsakh (Karabakh), Free and Happy Armenia.”

“We must win, we must live, we must make our history, and we are making our history,” added Pashinyan.

The Armenian premier acknowledged that Azerbaijani forces have made “some” territorial gains at northern and southern sections of the frontline since the outbreak of the war on September 27. But he insisted that a “blitzkrieg” planned by the Azerbaijani and Turkish militaries has failed and that Karabakh’s Armenian-backed army is “keeping the overall situation under control.”

Pashinyan said that the mediators’ efforts “have not been sufficient to rein in the Azerbaijani-Turkish-terrorist alliance.” He charged that Ankara has been encouraging Baku to continue the hostilities as part of its “traditional genocidal policy towards our people.”

In his televised speech, Pashinyan thanked Russia and Putin personally for their mediation efforts. “Russia has managed to properly perform its role as a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group and Armenia’s strategically,” he said.

https://massispost.com/2020/10/pashinyan-message-we-will-fight-to-keep-armenia-and-artsakh-free-and-happy/