ARKADY GHOUKASYAN CONVINCED THAT "FUTURE IS TALKS BETWEEN NKR AND AZERBAIJAN"

Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Jun 21 2006

STEPANAKERT, JUNE 21, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Last fifteen years
showed to the world that the Nagorno Karabakh people are entitled to
have the independent state of their own declared pursuant to the former
USSR’s legislation and the international law’s basic rules. This
was said in NKR President’s message to the participants of the
international conference titled "Nagorno Karabakh Republic: Yesterday,
Today, Tomorrow" that started on June 21 in Stepanakert. The message
was provided to Noyan Tapan from NKR Foreign Ministry Information
and Analytical Department.

"Although the NKR has not been recognized by the international
community yet, however, by the level of conformity to the European
society’s standards our Republic noticeably outstrips Azerbaijan,
which endeavored to dispose of the Nagorno Karabakh’s Armenian
population having enforced a war on us. However, our nation has not
only survived in an unequal sanguinary armed confrontation, but it
managed to mainly cure the war’s wounds, stage an economic recovery,
restore social sphere, inspire new life to the region’s cultural and
spiritual development," the NKR President mentioned in his message.

Arkady Ghoukasyan emphasized that an efficient army equipped with
modern weaponry, "which is the safest guarantor of the security and
prosperity of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic and our nation", has been
formed in the NKR.

"At present Azerbaijan exerts efforts to reverse history, deprive our
nation of freedom and independence gained at the cost of irreplaceable
losses. It is an unpromising way. I am convinced: the future is the
talks between the NKR and Azerbaijan on the search for the ways of the
problem’s advantageous solution and the establishment of cooperation
between the two states," the NKR President’s message read.

A.Ghoukasyan expressed the hope that the conference will promote deeper
comprehension of the realities of the region, which is difficult to
imagine without the Nagorno Karabakh Republic’s existence. He wished
a successful and fruitful work to the conference.