Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Sept 15 2005
Separatist republics’ representatives attending Moscow conference
Baku, September 14, AssA-Irada
Representatives of separatist entities from Upper Garabagh, Abkhazia,
South Ossetia and Dnestr are attending a three-day conference that
started in Moscow on the invitation of the Russian President’s
administration, reports say.
Member of the Russian Duma (parliament) Konstantin Zatulin said that
unrecognized republics possess many `state attributes’, including
armed forces and security councils. `Democratic processes in these
republics are developing more rapidly than those in other CIS
countries’, he alleged.
The conference, attended by Russian MPs, heard a report from Ruslan
Zargarian, `deputy foreign minister’ of the self-proclaimed Upper
Garabagh republic.
Zargarian claimed that Azerbaijan’s Dashkasan, Khanlar and Ganja
regions are Armenian territories.
Representatives of Abkhazia, Dnestr and South Ossetia spoke at the
event as well.
Head of the department on relations with CIS under the Russian
President, in turn, said his country considers the interests of South
Ossetia and Abkhazia as its own, `as over half of the population
there are Russian citizens’. Touching upon the Armenia-Azerbaijan
conflict over Upper Garabagh, the Russian representative said: `A
part of Azerbaijan’s population is in military mood, which is a bad
sign.’*
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress