Deputy minister: no new documents on Karabakh settlement
YEREVAN, 21 April. /ARKA/. A deputy foreign minister of Armenia has denied today media reports in Russia and Armenia claiming that a new document has been drawn up to help Armenia and Azerbaijan forge out an agreement on the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Speaking to reporters, the deputy minister Shavarsh Kocharyan said there are only the so-called Madrid and Kazan documents.
"We should be guided by official statements, not by media reports or stories ," said Kocharyan.
The deputy minister stressed that Armenia's official position has not changed, but in the current situation, it is impossible to ignore the position of Azerbaijan, its blatant aggression and its violation of the existing tripartite ceasefire agreements.
"Future negotiations must proceed from the fact that ceasefire must be guaranteed, as it is impossible to negotiate, when guns fire," Kocharyan said.
'The Armenian side has to do with a country, which can breach its international obligations and the trilateral agreement.
"Therefore, at any point in the future Azerbaijan may withdraw its signature and in this context it is necessary to take into account all these factors, when it comes to the settlement," said Kocharyan.
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict erupted into armed clashes after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s as the predominantly Armenian-populated enclave of Azerbaijan sought to secede from Azerbaijan and declared its independence backed by a successful referendum. A truce was brokered by Russia in 1994, although no permanent peace agreement has been signed.
Since then, Nagorno-Karabakh and several adjacent regions have been under the control of Armenian forces of Karabakh. Nagorno-Karabakh is the longest-running post-Soviet era conflict and has continued to simmer despite the relative peace of the past two decades, with snipers causing tens of deaths a year.
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Speaking to reporters, the deputy minister Shavarsh Kocharyan said there are only the so-called Madrid and Kazan documents.
"We should be guided by official statements, not by media reports or stories ," said Kocharyan.
The deputy minister stressed that Armenia's official position has not changed, but in the current situation, it is impossible to ignore the position of Azerbaijan, its blatant aggression and its violation of the existing tripartite ceasefire agreements.
"Future negotiations must proceed from the fact that ceasefire must be guaranteed, as it is impossible to negotiate, when guns fire," Kocharyan said.
'The Armenian side has to do with a country, which can breach its international obligations and the trilateral agreement.
"Therefore, at any point in the future Azerbaijan may withdraw its signature and in this context it is necessary to take into account all these factors, when it comes to the settlement," said Kocharyan.
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict erupted into armed clashes after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s as the predominantly Armenian-populated enclave of Azerbaijan sought to secede from Azerbaijan and declared its independence backed by a successful referendum. A truce was brokered by Russia in 1994, although no permanent peace agreement has been signed.
Since then, Nagorno-Karabakh and several adjacent regions have been under the control of Armenian forces of Karabakh. Nagorno-Karabakh is the longest-running post-Soviet era conflict and has continued to simmer despite the relative peace of the past two decades, with snipers causing tens of deaths a year.
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