February 21, 2006 - 14:11 AMT
Ghukasyan: Armenia Should Give up talks with Azerbaijan
President of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic Arkady Ghukasyan is sure there is a sole way Nagorno Karabakh can join the talks: Armenia should give up negotiations with Azerbaijan. «As long as Armenia holds dialogue with Azerbaijan without Karabakh, Baku will not agree to talks with Stepanakert,» Ghukasyan stated. In his words, «Baku is actually interested in talks only with Armenia, as they gain a good propagandist effect from that format: it is easy to prove that Armenia is an aggressor and has seized Azeri lands.» «I have a formula: when Baku holds talks only with Armenia, it is engaged in propaganda. When it begins negotiating with Nagorno Karabakh it will be a signal to me that Azerbaijan is trying to solve the issue,» the NKR President stated in an interview with RFE/RL.