ITAR-TASS, Russia
Monday 5:39 PM GMT
INTERVIEW: Armenian president highlights Russia’s role in Karabakh settlement
MOSCOW/YEREVAN April 9
Armenia’s new President Armen Sarkissian, who took office on Monday, deems as very important the role of Russia in the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.
MOSCOW/YEREVAN, April 9. /TASS/. Armenia’s new President Armen Sarkissian, who took office on Monday, deems as very important the role of Russia in the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.
"For more than 25 years talks on the conflict settlement have been held in the format of the OSCE Minsk Group, on the basis of the settlement principles and elements suggested by the co-chairs – Russia, the US and France," the president said in an interview with TASS. "Russia plays a key role in the process of the Karabakh settlement as a co-chair of the Minsk Group," he went on to say.
President Sarkissian stressed that "a three-party ceasefire in Karabakh was achieved 23 years ago exactly due to Russia’s mediation." "We highly value these mediatory efforts in the search for a peaceful political solution to the problem," the president added. "It is obvious that political will to achieve peace and accord is necessary for the settlement of the problem. Armenia, for its part, is doing everything it can to achieve peace and expects the same moves from the Azerbaijani side," the Armenian leader said.
"Eventually, all regional conflicts find their settlement, they are quite surmountable," the president said. "History has seen conflicts no less cruel and dramatic," he added.
The new president of Armenia was elected by the country’s parliament on March 2. Under the constitutional reform, Armenia is switching over to a parliamentary system of government. The head of state, who is elected by members of the parliament, the National Assembly, will fulfill limited and representative functions.
The conflict between neighboring Armenia and Azerbaijan over the highland region of Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed territory that had been part of Azerbaijan before the Soviet Union break-up but was mainly populated by Armenians, broke out in the late 1980s.
In 1991-1994, the confrontation spilled over into large-scale military action for control over the enclave and some adjacent territories after Azerbaijan lost control of them. Thousands left their homes on both sides in a conflict that killed 30,000. A truce was called between Armenia and the Nagorno-Karabakh republic on one side and Azerbaijan on the other in May 1994.
Talks on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement have been held since 1992 in the format of the so-called OSCE Minsk Group, comprising along with its three co-chairs – Russia, France and the United States – Belarus, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Finland and Turkey. Baku insists Nagorno-Karabakh be an autonomy within Azerbaijan.