Nalbandian: Azerbaijan wants to ruin talks in Karabakh settlement

July 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.