June 7, 2006 - 14:38 AMT
Karabakh Talks Fruitless over Baku's Refusal to Recognize NKR Right to Referendum
The talks on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement do not yield fruit since Azerbaijan refuses to recognize the right of the NKR people to referendum, Vice-speaker of the Armenian parliament Vahan Hovhannisian stated in Yerevan. However, in his words, the world practice proves that exercising the right to self-determination peoples express their will via referendum. "The point is that Nagorno Karabakh was the first to do it during the post soviet age, when the international community was not ready for separation from metropolises. When independence was proclaimed in Eastern Timor, Eritrea, Montenegro it was perceived as a normal phenomenon. By the way, the same variant will be to all appearance proposed to Kosovo," Hovhannisian remarked.