Interfax News Agency, Russia
May 16 2008

Armenia: referendum needed to determine status of N.-Karabakh

YEREVAN May 16

Armenia’s foreign minister insisted on Thursday that a referendum is
needed in Nagorno-Karabakh to determine the future status of the
disputed Armenian-speaking enclave in Azerbaijan that has been the
source of a conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan for 20 years.

The minister, Edvard Nalbandian, who was speaking to reporters, also
insisted on more conflict settlement talks on the basis of the
proposals of the Minsk Group, a mediating body appointed by the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

The new Armenian president, Serzh Sargsyan, is due to meet for the
first time with Azeri President Ilham Aliyev during a planned informal
Commonwealth of Independent States summit in St. Petersburg on June 7.

The enclave is a de facto independent state backed by Armenia and
styling itself the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.