MOVSES HAKOBYAN: KARABAKH SHOULD PARTICIPATE IN THE TALKS

AZG Armenian Daily
11/07/2009

The Karabakh conflict is far from being resolved today, because the
people of Karabakh do not participate in the process, NKR Defense
Minister, Lieutenant-General Movses Hakobyan said. He insists that
the government of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic has worked out its
official position on the ways of settlement and it constantly presents
it to the Minsk Group Co-Chairs, when they visit Stepanakert.

Armenia expresses its stance on the Karabakh settlement during
negotiations. Karabakh will express its opinion when it gets involved
in the talks, the Defense Minister declared, adding that the two
positions do not contradict each other.

"It’s obvious that if the fate of our people is being decided,
it should be done by our people. In this stage, when the people of
NKR are not involved in the process, the conflict is far from being
solved," Movses Hakobyan stressed.

Which concessions is Karabakh ready for today? The Minister considers
that speaking about it is too early. First, Karabakh is not a party
to the talks. Secondly, they do not what to hear about any concessions
today.

As for the threats of the Azerbaijani side to solve the conflict by use
of force, NKR Defense Minister does not take them seriously. He simply
notes that the threats of the past 15 years have remained threats only.

Recently international organizations have been paying special attention
to the issue of snipers. The planned OSCE monitoring of the line of
contact has been disturbed a few times. Movses Hakobyan assures that
the monitoring has always been disturbed by Azeri snipers.

According to the Minister, NKR agreed to the requirement to withdraw
the snipers from the contact line at the very beginning.