Armenian official urges Azerbaijan to recognize Karabakh’s self-determination

Arminfo
21 Apr 06

Yerevan, 21 April: “We would be very pleased if the Azerbaijani
Foreign Ministry really positively responded to the statement made by
Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan and considered it to be
constructive. This would stimulate positive developments in the
settlement of the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict,” the press secretary of
the Armenian Foreign Ministry, Gamlet Gasparyan, said in an interview
with Armenpress news agency today.

Azerbaijan’s comments, in response to Oskanyan’s recent statement
that if Azerbaijan recognizes the right of the Nagornyy Karabakh
people to determine its future status, Armenia will be ready to
seriously discuss the elimination of the consequences of the war,
showed that nothing had changed in Azerbaijan’s position, he said. As
soon as someone speaks about the right of the Nagornyy Karabakh
people to self-determination, everyone in Azerbaijan plunges into
deep nostalgia for Soviet times and dreams of “the highest degree of
autonomy”. Oskanyan has repeatedly clearly expressed Armenia’s
position on this issue, which envisages the recognition by Azerbaijan
of the right of the Karabakh people to self-determination in order to
achieve mutual understanding and then discussions on the elimination
of the consequences of the war.

“I regret that instead of accepting this reality, Azerbaijan still
cherishes empty hopes,” Gasparyan said.