RIA Novosti, Russia
March 11 2006

Military solution of Karabakh conflict ruled out – minister
14:54 | 11/ 03/ 2006

YEREVAN, March 11 (RIA Novosti) – Armenia’s foreign minister ruled
out Saturday a military solution for the breakaway region of Nagorny
Karabakh.

“Azerbaijan must realize that the problem cannot be resolved other
than by peaceful means. The military option is ruled out.
[Azerbaijan] will not be able to intimidate the Armenian side or
force it to change its position,” Vardan Oskanyan said in an
interview with the Armenian TV company Shant.

He said Azerbaijan was not ready for war.

“If the Azerbaijani side is not ready or will not risk resolving the
problem through simple compromise, it will never risk using force,”
the minister said.

Earlier, Oskanyan reiterated Armenia’s position that Nagorny
Karabakh’s right to self-determination was crucial for a peace
settlement.

The conflict between the former Soviet republics of Armenia and
Azerbaijan over Nagorny Karabakh, an Azerbaijani region with a
largely Armenian population, first erupted in 1988, when the region
claimed independence from Azerbaijan to join Armenia.

Over 30,000 people were reported dead on both sides between 1988 and
1994, and over 100 others died after a ceasefire was concluded in
1994, leaving Nagorny Karabakh in Armenian hands, but tensions
between Azerbaijan and Armenia have persisted.