July 17, 2009 - 20:43 AMT
Exclusion of Nagorno Karabakh from negotiations failed efforts to resolve conflict
"The NKR parties reaffirm the independence of Artsakh, expressed in the referendum of 1991 and during adoption of Constitution in 2006. Exclusion of Nagorno Karabakh from negotiations, ignoring the actual statehood of NKR and expression of a discriminatory approach in the settlement of the problem failed the efforts to resolve Azeri-Karabakh conflict".

Several Karabakh political parties issued a joint statement today in Stepanakert protesting what it called the "discriminatory approach" adopted by the current negotiations process and the fact that the NKR was being left out of the talks regarding a settlement to the conflict. It asserted that such attempts to disregard the will of the Karabakh people were doomed to failure.

In its statement the signatories declared that:

The right of the people of the NKR to self-determination must be respected via the full participation of the NKR government in the on-going peace process.

The security of the people of the NKR must not be threatened and that the essential guarantor of its security is the independent statehood of the NKR and its territorial integrity as established in the NKR constitution.

The statement goes on to say that the non-implementation of these demands might very well threaten the territorial balance peacefully preserved to date and that such a violation could lead to undesirable consequences whose full responsibility will lie with the international community, specifically with the governments of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs.

The signatories expressed their full support of the NKR government and call on the people of Karabakh to show resoluteness, unity and a sense of heightened alertness

The statement was signed by the "Azat Hayrenik" Party, "Zhoghovrtakan" Party of Artsakh,
"Armmenakan" Party of Artsakh, NKR Communist Party, ARF Artsakh Central Committee,
"Sharzhum 88″ Party, "Our Home is Armenia" Party.