Karabakh to become legal entity of the international law through consolidated efforts of all Armenians – president
08.05.2015,
14:09
Systemized efforts of all Armenians can help turn Karabakh into a full legal personality in the international law, Armenia’s president Serzh Sargsyan said at his meeting with the Armenian American community in Washington on Thursday.
YEREVAN, May 8. /ARKA/. Systemized efforts of all Armenians can help turn Karabakh into a full legal personality in the international law, Armenia’s president Serzh Sargsyan said at his meeting with the Armenian American community in Washington on Thursday.
Sargsyan praised the contribution made by the give American states to the state building in Artsakh (Armenian name for Karabakh), as cited by the presidential press office.
The president also said the Karabakh issue remains one of the priorities to Armenia.
“Armenia’s position has been that the problem is settled peacefully, based on the principles of international law, in line with the position of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs and co-chairing states,” the president said.
The Armenian leader stressed that Karabakh is an accomplished statehood with the respective institutions, experience of democratic elections, and “this process is irreversible”.
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 thousand 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--
