US CONGRESSMEN DEPLORE AGGRESSIVE ANTI-ARMENIAN POLICIES OF BAKU
Editorial

Yerkir.am
July 01, 2006

Nagorno Karabakh National Assembly Speaker Ashot Ghulian and NKR
Foreign Minister GeorgyPetrosian spoke at the "Karabakh Conflict:
Prerequisites of Peace " event held at the United States Institute
of Peace.

As reported by REGNUM news agency, 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.