ARMEN ROUSTAMIAN: ABSENCE OF KARABAKH PARTY IN TALKS IS ABSURD

DeFacto Agency, Armenia
Feb 22 2007

EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus Peter Semneby’s
statement on establishing a dialog between the Nagorno-Karabagh and
Azerbaijan reflects just the same thing the Armenian party has been
stated many years, ARF Dashnaktsutyun representative and the RA NA
Standing Committee on Foreign Relations Chair Armen Roustamian stated
at a press conference in Yerevan.

In his words, the Karabakh party’s absence in the talks is absurd.

"The negotiation process cannot replace trilateral talks. As we have
repeatedly stated, at the Nagorno-Karabagh talks Armenia stands out
on behalf of the NKR, and not as a conflicting side, only because
the NKR is not recognized by the world community. RA cannot replace
the Nagorno-Karabagh in the issues of status, security and displaced
persons’ return – it is a prerogative of the NKR leadership and
people. And finally, Armenia is a guarantor of the Nagorno-Karabagh
population’s security and cannot remain an outside observer," Armen
Roustamian underscored, PanARMENIAN.Net reports.