MILITARY OFFICER SEES ARMENIA AND NKR IN INTER-STATE STRATEGIC COOPERATION

ARKA
April 8, 2008

YEREVAN, April 8. /ARKA/. Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia could use the
universally recognized principles and provisions of international law
to institute an inter-state cooperation, Mayor General and doctor of
political science Hayk Kotanjyan, Head of the RA Defence Ministry’s
Institute of National and International Studies, stated in an interview
to the Defence Ministry’s Press Office.

"An inter-state commission could be set up to develop and implement
a strategy of partnership for maintaining peace, as well as stable
and secure development for their countries. The commission could be
chaired by the two countries’ leaders. Authorized delegates of the
two presidents, parliaments and governments could become commission
members," Kotanjyan said.

The products of the commission activity, including draft contracts,
could be submitted for the approval of both the government institutes
of both sides, and the influential Diasporan and International
organizations.

Kotanjyan said, the commission could later transform the mutual
strategic understanding between the two countries into a soft
confederative partnership between two sovereign countries.

Nagorno-Karabakh conflict started in 1988 when Nagorno-Karabakh with
dominantly Armenian population declared its withdrawal from Azerbaijan.

Large-scale military operations followed in which Azerbaijan lost
control over Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions.

On May 12 1994, a ceasefire agreement was signed putting an end to
the military operations in which 25,000-30,000 people were killed
and about one million people were forced to leave their homes.

Since 1992 peaceful settlement talks have been held under the auspices
of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chaired by the USA, Russia and France.