Karabakh will not cede even a bit of its independence: president

YEREVAN, March 5. / ARKA /. During a Saturday meeting with the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group the president of Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) Bako Sahakyan said the republic will not cede even a small portion of its independence.

The meeting with the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs Robert Bradtke (USA), Igor Popov (Russia) and Jacques Faure (France) took place on Saturday in NKR capital Stepanakert. Speaking about establishment of relations with Azerbaijan president Sahakyan stressed that the position of official Stepanakert has not changed. 

"Without the restoration of THE full format of negotiations and the full participation of Nagorno-Karabakh Republic in all stages of the negotiation process it is impossible to reach a comprehensive settlement of the conflict" was quoted as saying by his press office. 

Sahakyan was said to have congratulated Jacques Faure, the new French Minsk Group co-chairman. on his appointment. Then the parties discussed the current stage and prospects of the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict. The meeting was attended by Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of NKR Vasily l Atajanyan. 

Nagorno-Karabakh, populated overwhelmingly by ethnic Armenians, broke away from Azerbaijan following a three-year war that left some 30,000 dead.

 A Russia-brokered ceasefire ended the hostilities in 1994, but peace has remained fragile since then. The current Minsk Group-mediated negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan have not brought a peace agreement yet. The latest peace plan of the international mediators calls for the Armenian withdrawal from some of the territories held by the Karabakh military, the return of displaced people, security guarantees for Karabakh and its Armenian population and the possibility of a future referendum to decide the area’s final legal status. -0-