ITAR-TASS, Russia
April 8 2006

Karabakh asks Yerevan, Baku to affirm peace settlement

YEREVAN, April 8 (Itar-Tass) — Nagorno-Karabakh has called on
Armenia and Azerbaijan to affirm their readiness for peace settlement
of the Karabakh conflict, says a statement by the unrecognized
republic’s Foreign Ministry presented to new special representative
of the European Union for the South Caucasus Peter Semneby.

Karabakh Foreign Minister Georgy Petrosyan said he was concerned
about the increased violations of the cease-fire status along the
contact line between Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh, a source at the
Karabakh office in Yerevan told Itar-Tass.

Petrosyan informed Semneby of the official position of Stepanakert on
the Karabakh settlement. He said that Nagorno-Karabakh should be an
equal party to the negotiations. The minister also spoke of Karabakh
democratization.

Semneby said that the mandate of the EU special representative for
the South Caucasus had been extended into the prevention and
settlement of conflicts.