ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT MAY PASS STATEMENT BLAMING AZERBAIJAN FOR GENOCIDE
ARKA
September 7, 2009
Yerevan
External relations commission of Armenian parliament discussed draft
statement blaming Azerbaijan for genocide of Armenian population.
MP from Heritage opposition party Larissa Alaverdyan is the author
of the draft statement about recognizing the crimes committed by
Azerbaijani authorities toward Armenian population of Azerbaijani
Soviet Republic and the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous district (later
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic) in 1988-1992 as genocide.
Chairman of the external relations parliament commission Armen
Rustamyan said he will be submitting an alternate draft on the matter
and suggested Alaverdyan cooperating and proposing a joint draft,
says the report.
Alaverdyan accepted the suggestion. The discussion of the issues has
been postponed for 30 days.
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict started in 1988 when Nagorno-Karabakh
with prevailingly Armenian population declared its withdrawal from
Azerbaijan.
On December 10 1991, just a couple of days before the collapse of
the Soviet Union, 99.89% of Karabakh’s population voted for full
independence from Azerbaijan in a referendum held in the country in
the presence of international observers.
In response, Azerbaijan launched a large-scale war against
Nagorno-Karabakh. Active operations were ceased on May 12 1994
by signing a cease-fire agreement that has been maintained since
then. The military20operations led to about 25-30,000 deaths; a
million of people had to leave their homes.
Since 1992 negotiations have been held on peaceful settlement of the
conflict under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chaired by
the USA, Russia and France.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
