Armenia may recognize Karabakh in case of renewed hostilities: FM

PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenia may recognize Karabakh's independence and take other necessary steps to ensure its security, if the negotiations on the Karabakh settlement talks are discontinued, and there is a danger of renewed hostilities, Foreign Minister said.

As Edward Nalbandian noted at a parliament hearing, the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs have recently started to issue statements pointing to the actual culprit in the ceasefire violations, also stressing the need to create a mechanism for investigating incidents on the border.

At the same time, Nalbandian said, mediators declared that Armenia agreed on the mechanism, as opposed to Azerbaijan, implying that Baku will be held responsible for ceasefire violation.

The Foreign Minister also reminded that Chairman Ed Royce and Ranking Democrat Eliot Engel of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee have been asking their Congressional colleagues to join a bipartisan call for renewed U.S. leadership in keeping the peace along the Nagorno Karabakh line of contact, which also includes establishment of a mechanism for investigating border incidents.

“The initiative was supported by various international organizations and parliaments, including the U.S. Congress, as well as [Minsk Group U.S. Co-chair James] Warlick,” Nalbandian said, adding that Yerevan also supports the initiative.