YEREVAN, July 16. /ARKA/. Preparations for parliamentary elections in Armenia can’t hobble talks on Karabakh, which will be based on OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, Tigran Balayan, the Armenian foreign ministry spokesman, said Monday at a briefing.
On June 1, the new Armenian government presented its program, in accordance with which early parliamentary elections will be conducted within one year. The electoral code will be amended before the election.
Balayan also said that no meeting arrangements were made between Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers at their recent meeting in Brussels.
He said the meeting between Zograb Mnatsakanyan and Elmar Mammadyarov in Brussels was introductory in nature.
“I can only say that there is an arrangement to continue contacts,” Balayan said.
Karabakh conflict broke out in 1988 when Karabakh, mainly populated by Armenians, declared its independence from Azerbaijan.
On December 10, 1991, a few days after the collapse of the Soviet Union, a referendum took place in Nagorno-Karabakh, and the majority of the population (99.89%) voted for secession from Azerbaijan.
Afterwards, large-scale military operations began. As a result, Azerbaijan lost control over Nagorno-Karabakh and the seven regions adjacent to it.
Some 30,000 people were killed in this war and about one million people fled their homes.
On May 12, 1994, the Bishkek cease-fire agreement put an end to the military operations.
The talks brokered by OSCE Minsk Group are being held over peaceful settlement of the conflict. The group is co-chaired by USA, Russia and France. -0—–