NKR Foreign Minister: Nagorno-Karabakh's non-participation in the talks slows down the peace process

• Monday, March 4, 18:15

 Nagorno-Karabakh's non-participation in the talks slows down the peace process, NKR Foreign Minister Karen Mirzoyan says in his interview with Ekho Moskvy radio company.  He says that only the involvement of the NKR as a full party to the conflict will allow ensuring a real breakthrough and gaining the final goal - settlement of the conflict between Azerbaijan and Nagorno- Karabakh. 

He says that the current peace process is going on within the OSCE Minsk Group, and all the documents of this peace process imply Karabakh's status as a full party to the conflict. Mirzoyan thinks that the only obstacle in this way is Azerbaijan's reluctance to hold direct negotiations with the NKR. 

The minister points out that today more and more countries state that it's time for the NKR to return to the negotiation table. He recalls that since the very beginning of the talks in the 1990s, Karabakh has taken an active part and contributed to achievement of some arrangements. It was due to Karabakh's direct involvement in the peace process that the ceasefire agreement was signed in 1994, and that agreement was signed directly between Nagorno-Karabakh and
Azerbaijan. One more obstacle in the way of the conflict settlement is the constant ceasefire violations by Azerbaijan, Mirzoyan says. He points out that the Azerbaijani troops are heating up the tension on the contact line, and this situation is very dangerous. The NKR foreign minister thinks that the ceasefire violations on the contact line create an unfavorable atmosphere and heat up the tension not only in the conflict zone but also throughout the region.