CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR: NAGORNO KARABAKH-ARMENIA RELATIONSHIP COMPLICATED

PanARMENIAN.Net
30.05.2007 16:43 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Nagorno Karabakh’s relationship to Armenia is,
to say the least, complicated. Officially, even Armenia doesn’t
recognize Karabakh’s independence. In practice, it veers between
treating it as a sovereign nation and a constituent part of itself,
writes Nicole Itano, Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor.

"Karabaki officials carry Armenian passports because any issued by
their own government would be of little use crossing any international
border," the author goes on.

RA PM Sargsyan says, no Armenian troops serve in Karabakh or in the
security belt formed during the war. But actually many Armenian youths
did military service in Nagorno Karabakh, Itano writes.

The 25,000 standing army of Nagorno-Karabakh is astounding, because
that’s nearly a quarter of its population, according to the author.

Last year was Karabakh’s most successful as a budding tourist
destination: a grand total of 4,000 visitors came, an average of 11
a day.

"Of course we want to end this no war/no peace situation. The sooner
we get a legal end to the war the better. But we understand [that]
for the time being, this is a long road. We will not compromise on
our principles, even if it lasts for one or 200 years.

We paid too big a price for this independence," Itano quotes NKR
President Arkady Ghukasian.