June 2, 2006 - 13:48 AMT
Karabakh Conflict: Parties Should Speak Common Language
"Our society has a common opinion on the necessity of recognizing the status we possess now. In this regard our parliament reflects the public opinion, which says that the outcomes of the referendum held in 1991 cannot be neglected," Speaker of the Armenian National Assembly Ashot Ghulian stated. In his words, the absence of parliamentary diplomacy, which is used worldwide for reconciliation of positions, hinders the settlement process.

"Unfortunately, it's not used in our case. Parliamentary diplomacy is not a panacea, but the NKR parliament's joining the settlement process can prove positive. Let me remind that it was parliamentary diplomacy that brought to signing the agreement on ceasefire in 1994," he remarked.

Ashot Ghulian added that the NKR parliament has issued a special address to the parliaments of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair states with a proposal to enable the parliamentary diplomacy with the participation of the NKR parliament. "The negotiation process should be based on firm common notions. The parties should speak a common language and treat the terms "refugees" and "displaced persons" the same way. Otherwise the talks will make no sense," the NKR NA Speaker said, reported Azat Artsakh daily.