NKR PRESIDENT NAMED AZERI LEADERSHIP CONDUCT “PERFORMANCE”
Pan ARMENIAN Network, Armenia
July 15 2005
15.07.2005 06:54
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ “If the Azerbaijani authorities do not want to
consider Karabakh as a party to conflict, it means that they do
not want the conflict to be settled” NKR President Arkady Ghukasian
stated a press conference in Stepanakert. He reminded that the status
of Nagorno Karabakh as a party to conflict is fixed in the documents
complied during the OSCE summit in Budapest and was long ago recognized
not only by the OSCE Co-Chairs but also by Azerbaijan itself. Arkady
Ghukasian said the unwillingness of the Azeri authorities to recognize
this fact is mere performance. He reiterated that the problem cannot be
settled without the participation of Nagorno Karabakh. When commenting
on the Lachin issue frequently advanced by Baku lately Arkady Ghukasian
said Lachin cannot be an issue of compromise, since this road connects
Nagorno Karabakh with the outer world. “We will never deviate from our
position”, he stressed. However, he also noted a considerable progress
in the settlement process. In part, he pointed out to the fact that
Baku came to speak of the peaceful settlement of the conflict and
the necessity of establishing dialogue with Nagorno Karabakh. The
President did not rule out that this change can be conditioned by the
pressure exerted on Azerbaijan by the international community. Arkady
Ghukasian welcomed Baku’s readiness to discuss the most important
issue – the status of Nagorno Karabakh. However he rated the attempt
of the Azeri political figures to equalize in rights the Armenian and
Azeri communities of Karabakh as senseless, Mediamax agency reported.