GEORGIY PETROSSIAN: OFFICIAL BAKU COULD NOT GIVE THIS OR THAT STATUS TO NAGORNO KARABAKH, AS GIVEN ISSUE DOES NOT ENTER INTO COMPETENCE OF AZERBAIJAN

Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Jun 22 2006

STEPANAKERT, JUNE 22, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Recently the
Azerbaijani side by the words of Minister of Foreign Affairs of
Azerbaijan Elmar Mamedyarov stated on the readiness to give the
most superior status of autonomy to Nagorno Karabakh, adopted
in the world, including the equivalent status of Tatarstan in
the Russian Federation. This was declared by NKR Foreign Minister
Georgiy Petrossian who mentioned that "in this way it is possible
to express hope, that the given status will be given to lezghin,
talish and other people, living in Azerbaijan." What concerns the NKR,
with whom the Azerbaijani leadership continues to avoid any contacts,
"it is necessary to emphasize, that official Baku could not give this
or that status to Nagorno Karabakh, as the given issue does not enter
into the competence of Azerbaijan."

"The status of Nagorno-Karabakh Republic is determined in legal
frames of the people, living here. The essence of Azerbaijani-Karabakh
conflict is concluded in the fact, that Azerbaijani side turned out
to be non-capable to solve similar issues in a civilized way and
resorted to armed agression," Georgiy Petrossian declared.

NKR Foreign Minister also emphasized that "the official Baku continues
to ignore the existing reallies, concluded in the fact, that the NKR
independence is the most superior value of the Republic’s people,
which is being supported at national referendum on state independence
on December 10, 1991."

"The NKR people not only protected his right to deal with its own
fortune in the course of the war, unleashed to it, but for the
last 15 years as minimum 7 times confirmed its will by the means
of democratic national presidential and parliamentary elections,
conducted in the NKR, when the electorate voted for the programs of
separate candidates and political parties, appealing for the Republic’s
state independence," the statement spread by the NKR Foreign Ministry
Information and Analytical Department read.