May 7, 2010 - 15:35 AMT
Gegham Baghdasaryan: termination of information war to help peaceful dialogue

Establishment of the ceasefire in Karabakh in 1994 facilitated negotiations between the conflicting parties but was not enough for the final settlement of the conflict, according to Gegham Baghdasaryan, President of Stepanakert Press Club.

“Neither peace nor war situation and absence of any official relations escalated tensions in the region,” he said in a statement.

“The ongoing perilous information war involuntarily becomes a kind of artillery training, which may lead to inevitable military outcome with catastrophic consequences for the entire South Caucasus. On the threshold of the 16th anniversary of the ceasefire agreement signed on May 12, 1994, I think it is necessary to introduce a “ceasefire” initiative in the information field as well. I strongly believe that the termination of information war will create favorable conditions for continuation of a peaceful dialogue, will contribute to achievement of real compromises and mutually acceptable decisions on the Karabakh conflict settlement, as well as to approximation of media positions in this issue. I offer heads of media organizations of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh to stop the information war from May 12, 2010. First, this means rejection of publications insulting the honor and dignity of a whole nation and its individual representatives, as well as of materials inciting ethnic dissention and propagandizing war,” the statement reads.