NKR PRESIDENT: KARABAKH SHOULD BE PARTY TO TALKS

PanARMENIAN.Net
19.05.2008 13:14 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Nagorno Karabakh should hold talks with Azerbaijan,
NKR President said.

"Nagorno Karabakh Republic is the main party to conflict and it has
priorities like other foreign states," Bako Sahakian said.

According to NKR Prime Minister Ara Harutyunyan, population density
will become the principal goal of the republic’s national security
doctrine, Vedomosti Russian newspaper reports.

"Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov insists on
determination of Karabakh’s status within Azerbaijan after ‘withdrawal
of Armenian troops from the seized territories’. The U.S. Department
of State said in April it will not recognize Karabakh’s sovereignty,"
the edition says.

"The intention to secure high population density could be prompted
by the rumors that Armenia is ready to cede a part of Karabakh to
Azerbaijan," NKR parliament member Gegham Baghdasaryan supposed.

"According to official data, the population of Nagorno Karabakh makes
some 150 000, what is ten times less that in neighbor Armenia. The
government’s goal is to bring this figure up to 500 000 within
shortest terms.

Birth rate is also going up, with 14 children per 1000. Boost of
population can also help recognition of independence, as it was in
Kosovo," Ara Harutyunyan said.

Earlier, Armenia’s Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said that
Karabakh’s status will be determined through a referendum.

Meanwhile, deputy chair of the RF Duma international committee Leonid
Slutskiy said that Moscow stands for a solution under international
mediation.