Nalbandian: Azerbaijan wants to ruin talks in Karabakh settlementJuly 14, 2011 - 14:34 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Before determination of the final status, Nagorno Karabakh will get a transitional status, which must be fixed at international level, according to Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian. “This was offered by Minsk Group co-chairs in 2009 in Prague but Azerbaijan did not accept it,” the Minister said at London International Institute for Strategic Studies, commenting on Azerbaijan statements perverting the idea of future status of Nagorno Karabakh. The Minister added that the transitional status means “status quo plus”, that is, all Karabakh has today plus international recognition. Touching upon the statement of his Azeri counterpart saying that it is senseless to spend time for coordination of main principles and it will be right to commence development of peace treaty, Edwadrd Nalbandian noted that this is a repetition of Azeri’s old song. The Minister also reminded the co-chairs’ opinion supposing that if Azerbaijan cannot agree on fundamental principles, how it may carry out talks on peace treaty development. According to the Armenian Minister, this approach of official Baku is an evident desire of Azerbaijan to ruin the latest years’ process of negotiations. “The sooner Azerbaijan gets disabused of illusion and stops spending petrodollars to prepare for new adventure, the more apparent will be the perspective of the conflict settlement, the Head of Foreign Ministry concluded. The conflict between Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan The conflict between Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan broke out as result of the ethnic cleansing launched by the Azeri authorities in the final years of the Soviet Union. The Karabakh War was fought from 1991 (when the Nagorno Karabakh Republic was proclaimed) to 1994 (when a ceasefire was sealed by Armenia, NKR and Azerbaijan). Most of Nagorno Karabakh and a security zone consisting of 7 regions are now under control of NKR defense army. Armenia and Azerbaijan are holding peace talks mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group up till now. Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | Concept to complete Yerevan Cascade discussed at city hall A conceptual proposal to complete the Cascade complex in downtown Yerevan has been presented by Jean-Michel Wilmotte. Pashinyan visits flood-hit region Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Saturday, June 8 visited the disaster area in the Lori province. €3.5 mln EU grant to support justice reforms in Armenia The European Union has paid €3.5 mln grant to Armenia within a €11mln program on Support to Justice Reforms. Yerevan reacts to Baku’s proposal to see Minsk Group abolition Alen Simonyan has declared that Armenia is taking steps aimed at concluding a peace treaty with Azerbaijan. |