KARABAKH’S SELF-DETERMINATION WILL HELP RESOLVE CONFLICT – ARMENIAN MINISTER

Interfax
April 6 2010
Russia

Supporting the ability of the people living in the self-proclaimed
Nagorno-Karabakh republic to exercise their right of self-determination
will make it easier to find a solution to the conflict, Armenian
Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandyan said.

"We have said more than once that recognition of the Nagorno-Karabakh
people’s right to self-determination and their ability to exercise
this right are key to the settlement of the Karabakh conflict. The
co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group understand this as well,"
Nalbandyan said at a joint news conference with European Commissioner
for Enlargement and Neighborhood Policy Stefan Fule in Yerevan on
Tuesday.Body

The European official, for his part, said that belligerent rhetoric
would not help resolve the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.

The principles of the non-use of force should be added to other
international principles used in the Karabakh peace process, he said.

The European Union supports the OSCE Minsk Group’s Karabakh settlement
efforts, and it has also been implementing a number of programs to
promote confidence building measures in the region, Nalbandyan said.

Baku lost control over Nagorno-Karabakh and seven neighboring districts
as a result of a conflict with Yerevan in the 1990s, which forced
nearly one million Azeri people to flee their homes.

The UN Security Council has adopted a number of resolutions condemning
the occupation of Azerbaijan’s territories and demanding the withdrawal
of Armenian servicemen from the region.

Azerbaijan and Armenia have been negotiating a solution to the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict through third-party mediators from the U.S.,
Russia and France, which co-chair the OSCE Minsk Group.