STEPANAKERT AND BAKU MAIN SIDES IN KARABAKH CONFLICT – ARMENIAN MINISTRY

Interfax
Aug 26 2009
Russia

Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan are the main sides in the conflict
over the self-proclaimed republic, Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister
Shavarsh Kocharyan told Russia’s Ekho Moskvy radio.

"The conflict has its two main sides. They are the self-proclaimed
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and Azerbaijan, which tried to solve the
problem of the self-proclaimed nation using force. The republic of
Armenia is the third party that was dragged into this conflict,"
Kocharyan said.

The authorities in Baku are trying to portray this problem as
a conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia, "but the root of the
problem is the self-determination of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh,
and a conflict erupted because of Azerbaijan’s policy of force,"
the Armenian diplomat said.

"Azerbaijan is continuing its saber rattling. Its condition is as
follows: either it receives everything, or the region gets a war.

highest-ranking officials, including the president himself, have
repeatedly spoken about military methods [to solve this problem]. It
has happened despite the signing of the Meindorf declaration, in
which the parties pledged not to use force," he said.