Interfax - Russia & CIS General Newswire
 Thursday 9:05 PM MSK


High-ranking Armenian figures argue whether Armenia is party to
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

YEREVAN. May 17

Armenia is a party involved in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Deputy
Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan said.

"Armenia is a party involved in the conflict. We also signed a
ceasefire agreement in 1994. The document was drawn up by Azerbaijan
and Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenia joined it later," Kocharyan told
journalists.

From this viewpoint, "Armenia is an involved party," he said.

"The main parties to the conflict are Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan.
We have said repeatedly that Armenia cannot hold negotiations instead
of Artsakh [the Armenian name for Nagorno-Karabakh]," he said.

Former Defense Minister Vigen Sargsyan, who stepped down on May 11
after the formation of a new government led by Nikol Pashinyan, said
the new prime minister's remarks in which he described Armenia as a
party to the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement process might pose a danger.

This drew objections from first Armenian President Levon
Ter-Petrosyan, who said that, in accusing Pashinyan, Vigen Sargsyan in
fact "reveals his absolute ignorance of the essence of the Karabakh
settlement process."

The international community recognized Armenia, Azerbaijan, and
Nagorno-Karabakh as parties to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in the
Final Document of the Budapest Summit of December 6, 1994 and the OSCE
Senior Council Chairman's Summary in Prague on March 31, 1995,
Ter-Petrosyan said.

Vigen Sargsyan said in response that Ter-Petrosyan's approaches "have
been the obvious reason for his resignation as head of state and the
total fiasco of the Armenian National Congress he leads in the 2017
parliamentary elections."

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