NKR PRESIDENT NAMED AZERI LEADERSHIP CONDUCT "PERFORMANCE"

PanARMENIAN.Net - "If the Azerbaijani authorities do not want to consider Karabakh as a party to conflict, it means that they do not want the conflict to be settled" NKR President Arkady Ghukasian stated a press conference in Stepanakert. He reminded that the status of Nagorno Karabakh as a party to conflict is fixed in the documents complied during the OSCE summit in Budapest and was long ago recognized not only by the OSCE Co-Chairs but also by Azerbaijan itself. Arkady Ghukasian said the unwillingness of the Azeri authorities to recognize this fact is mere performance. He reiterated that the problem cannot be settled without the participation of Nagorno Karabakh. When commenting on the Lachin issue frequently advanced by Baku lately Arkady Ghukasian said Lachin cannot be an issue of compromise, since this road connects Nagorno Karabakh with the outer world. "We will never deviate from our position", he stressed. However, he also noted a considerable progress in the settlement process. In part, he pointed out to the fact that Baku came to speak of the peaceful settlement of the conflict and the necessity of establishing dialogue with Nagorno Karabakh. The President did not rule out that this change can be conditioned by the pressure exerted on Azerbaijan by the international community. Arkady Ghukasian welcomed Baku's readiness to discuss the most important issue - the status of Nagorno Karabakh. However he rated the attempt of the Azeri political figures to equalize in rights the Armenian and Azeri communities of Karabakh as senseless, Mediamax agency reported.