Second Referendum Can Become Additional Test for People of Karabakh

PanARMENIAN.Net - "Various political figures including the President of the NATO PA Pierre Lellouche, have many times stated of the necessity of another referendum on self-determination among the population of the former Nagorno Karabakh Autonomous Region," NKR National Assembly Speaker Ashot Ghulian said. "I do not think we should deny the idea of a second referendum. The referendum if 1991 was held in hard conditions. Stepanakert was being bombed from all sides. But the people made a conscious choice. The Azeri part of the population did not take part in it but it was the reflection of their civic position. Now no one speak of the referendum of 1991 as of a fiction or disputes its legality," he noted.



The NKR NA Speaker considers that a second referendum may become a test for the people of Karabakh, since a new generation has grown up during recent 15 years. "We paid a very high price for our independence and I am convinced that our people will vote like they did 15 years ago. In his words, an additional referendum will prove that the international community recognizes the right of Nagorno Karabakh people to self-determination.



"We state that we will never allow to escalate situation by manipulating with the problem of the Azeri refugees. Our ways departed long ago. Various systems of values, which became incompatible, have formed. I think everyone should understand this fact. The additional referendum cannot be viewed as the problem of Azeri refugees. But there is also the problem of Armenian refugees from Baku and other Azeri regions as well as from the NKR regions, which are still occupied by the Azeri army," Ashot Ghulian said, reported Azat Artsakh daily.