Karabakh not problem for Armenia’s accession to Customs Union: Zatulin
03.12.2013,
14:15
Not having a customs border with Nagorno-Karabakh causes no problems for Armenia’s accession to the Customs Union (CU), director of the Institute of CIS Countries Konstantin Zatulin said.
YEREVAN, December 3. /ARKA/. Not having a customs border with Nagorno-Karabakh causes no problems for Armenia’s accession to the Customs Union (CU), director of the Institute of CIS Countries Konstantin Zatulin said.
“Today Nagorno-Karabakh is in a unified economic area with Armenia. What is the problem then?” Zatulin told reporters Monday.
Zatulin also said Armenia’s accession to the CU is unlikely to have an impact on Nagorno-Karabakh issue.
“As to the Nagorno-Karabakh problem, it is beyond the accession to the Customs Union”, he said.
The Karabakh conflict started in 1988 when prevailingly Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh declared withdrawal from Azerbaijan. On December 10, 1991, a referendum was held in Nagorno-Karabakh where 99.89% voted for independence from Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan responded by large-scale military operations that led to loss of control not only over Nagorno-Karabakh itself, but also over seven adjoining areas. About 25-30 thousands people were killed and about a million had to leave their homes during the military operations.
A trilateral cease-fire agreement was signed on May 12, 2004, and has been followed since then.
The ongoing Karabakh peace process started in 1992 under auspices of OSCE Minsk Group co-chaired by the USA, Russia and France. –0—
