RA foreign minister hopes to see progress in Karabakh settlement before presidential elections in Azerbaijan

YEREVAN, February 25. /ARKA/. Armenian Foreign Ministry hopes to see progress in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict before the Azerbaijani presidential elections, Minister Vardan Oskanyan told a Monday news conference.

Oskanyan said the problems connected with Armenia’s presidential elections won’t hinder the negotiation process. After the newly elected president of Armenia Serge Sargssyan is sworn in, the ceremony to take place on April 9, he will get actively involved in the negotiation process.

Oskanyan said EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus Peter Semneby has already urged the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents to hold a bilateral meeting in the near future. No date for the meeting has been set yet.

“The newly elected Armenian president has a clear idea of the peaceful settlement process, he is well aware of the contents of the documents put on the negotiation table, as well as the common principles of which Armenia approves,” Oskanyan said.

The Karabakh conflict started in 1988, when Nagorny Karabakh, mostly populated with Armenians, declared independence from Azerbaijan. Large-scale combat operations followed leading to Azerbaijan’s loss of control over Karabakh and seven bordering regions.

On May 12, 1994, an agreement was signed on ceasefire in the area of the conflict which had killed 25.000-30,000 people in both sides and forced about one million people to leave their homes. The ceasefire regime is effective up to date.

Since 1992, negotiations for a peaceful settlement of the conflict have been conducted within the OSCE Minsk Group co-chaired by the USA, Russia, and France.

RA Prime Minister Serge Sargssyan got 862,369 votes (52.82%) to win an outright victory in the February 19 presidential elections with ex-president Levon Ter-Petrossyan lagging on 351,222 votes (21.5%). --0—