Vitaly Naumkin: Stepanakert participation in talks necessaryNovember 14, 2007 - 14:15 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Stepanakert participation in the negotiation process is necessary, said Valery Naumkin, Dartmouth Conference Co-chair on Nagorno Karabakh, Director of the Russian Center of Strategic and Political Studies. "I would not like to criticize the Minsk Group. Our format doesn't replace the processes going on within the MG. These two formats are mutually complementary: if the Minsk group functions at the level of state diplomacy, the Dartmouth Conference organizes a dialogue at the level of civil publics. One more thing, Nagorno Karabakh is a party to Dartmouth conference and we suppose that there will be no progress in the talks without Stepanakert's participation. Actually, the opposition is going on between Azerbaijan and Karabakh," the Russian expert said. "Any agreement signed by the state leaders is put into practice by people living in those states and if the diplomats' groundwork doesn't justify people's expectations, it will never be successful." "History knows many cases when agreements remained on paper. Presidential talks are insufficient. Our format aims at a public dialogue," Naumkin said in an interview with Argumenty i Fakty Armenia. Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | Putin congratulates Pashinyan’s birthday Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on his birthday on June 1. Opposition motorcade en route to Gyumri for large rally A motorcade of protesters headed by Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan is heading to the city of Gyumri. Ruling MPs, Foreign Minister talk Armenia-Azerbaijan processes MOs from the ruling Civil Contract party met with the Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan in the Armenian parliament. Russia: Armenia’s frozen membership weakens CSTO position in Caucasus A Russian envoy said any step that could alienate the CSTO member states from each other is “deeply wrong”. |