June 10, 2011 - 15:14 AMT
Karabakh: talk about peacekeepers premature

Speaker of the Nagorno Karabakh National Assembly Ashot Ghulyan said talk about stationing of peacekeeping forces in Karabakh is premature.

“This is not an easy matter. If it comes to deployment of peacekeepers, the parties will have to agree on composition, number and stationing zones, but there is no ground for this yet,” Ghulyan told journalists in Yerevan.

Earlier, diplomatic sources told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter that the statement by Azerbaijani Foreign Minister, suggesting that an agreement was reached on deployment of peacekeepers in Karabakh is untrue.

“The issue wasn't discussed; the negotiations focused on Karabakh status. Neither composition or number of peacekeeping forces were coordinated between the parties,” the source said.

According to Azeri media reports, Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said that an agreement was reached on forming peacekeeping forces outside of OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries. “The issue is yet to be discussed,” the FM added.