NKR PARLIAMENT SPEAKER AND NKR FOREIGN MINISTER DELIVER SPEECHES IN US
INSTITUTE OF PEACE

WASHINGTON, JUNE 30, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. On June 28, in
Washington, the NKR officials delivered a speech at the United States
Institute of Peace at the event on subject "Karabakh Conflict:
Prerequisites of Peace". Diplomats, leaders of strategic centers and
organizations, members of the Armenian Diaspora attended the event. In
their speeches, Ashot Ghoulian and Georgy Petrossian presented the
official position of the NKR on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict focusing
on the history of the conflict and the current stage of the peace
settlement. The NKR Parliament Speaker presented the legal and
historic grounds of the proclamation and establishment of the Nagorno
Karabakh Republic stressing their correspondence to the international
norms and experience. Speaking of the situation in the region, Ashot
Ghoulian noted that the NKR regarded with comprehension to the vital
interests of the USA and other countries in the South Caucasus but at
the same time it anticipated understanding of its interests from these
countries.

In his speech, the NKR Foreign Minister stressed that the current
format of the negotiations does not reflect the real point of the
conflict as the Azerbaijani party refuses to negotiate with Nagorno
Karabakh. Thus, Georgy Petrossian noted, since 1988 Azerbaijan has
transformed the possibility of the legal solution of the problem to an
enduring ethno-political conflict. The NKR delegation answered the
attendants’ various questions.

Then, in the U.S. Congress, the NKR Parliament Speaker and Foreign
Minister had a meeting with Ranking Member of the House Foreign
Operations Appropriations Subcommittee, Congresswoman Nita Lowey. In
the course of the talk, the NKR delegation presented the current
social-economic state in the republic, the achievements connected with
the development of democracy in Artsakh and the last developments in
the process of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement.

According to the NKR MFA, in the evening, in honor of the NKR
delegation, a reception took place in Capitol in which the
U.S. Congress members, RA Ambassador to the USA Tatoul Markarian, NKR
Permanent Representative in the USA Vardan Barseghian, leadership of
the Armenian Assembly of America and the Armenian National Committee
of America, Congress staff members, journalists, members of the
Armenian Diaspora took part. Congressmen Frank Pallone, Joe
Knollenberg, Edward Roys, Caroline Malony, Adam Shiff, Bred Sherman,
who heartedly greeted the NKR National Assembly Chairman and Foreign
Minister, delivered speeches at the event. Condemning the aggressive
anti-Armenian policy conducted by Azerbaijan, the Congress members
confirmed readiness to contribute to the establishment and development
of the NKR. In their speeches, the Nagorno Karabakh officials
expressed gratitude to the U.S. Congress and American people on
behalf of the people of Artsakh for adherence to such eternal values
as freedom and democracy as well as for the humanitarian aid rendered
to Nagorno Karabakh. "Artsakh knowingly chose the way of freedom and
democracy and no obstacles will turn it from that way", the NKR NA
Speaker summed up.

After the event, the NKR delegation met with Co-Chairs of the
U.S. Congress of Armenian Friendship Group, Congressmen Frank Pallone
and Joe Knollenberg. The participants of the talk touched upon issues
related to the current social-economic state in the NKR, development
of democracy in Artsakh, assistance rendered by the USA to the NKR and
the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement.