Interfax, Russia
July 10 2009

Nagorno-Karabakh ready to defend its independence – Saakyan

STEPANAKERT July 10

Attempts made by the authorities in Baku to portray Nagorno-Karabakh
as part of Azerbaijan are unacceptable, said the president of the
self-proclaimed republic, Bako Saakyan.

"Our position has always been clear and remains unchanged: the
independence of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic is a fact which cannot
be debated," Saakyan said in Stepanakert on Friday, addressing an
Armenian forum on Armenian-Turkish relations and the Karabakh problem.

The event involves more than 130 representatives from 20 countries.

"Any attempt to present the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic within the
territorial integrity of Azerbaijan is totally incomprehensible and
unacceptable" to the authorities in Stepanakert, he said.

"It both disregards the ongoing process of life’s natural development
and history and contradicts the realities of the past," Saakyan said.

Azerbaijan’s political leaders keep speaking about their "right" to
solve the Karabakh problem through military methods, he said.

Nagorno-Karabakh is ready to "give a fitting rebuff to any incursion
by an adversary," he added.

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