Armenia should recognize Karabakh's independence: Armen Rustamyan

In an attempt to counter the Turkish-Azerbaijani tandem, which is getting closer on daily basis, Armenia and Karabakh should create their own tandem in the form of a political-military alliance, member of the Supreme Body of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun, ARF-D) Armen Rustamyan told a press conference today.

Rustamyan's call comes ahead of September 9 when Azerbaijan will reportedly submit a draft resolution over Nagorno Karabakh in the UN General Assembly.

Mr Rustamyan said ARF-D has already informed all the offices of the Armenian Cause, asking them to make efforts in providing the representatives of UN member states with the truth about the Nagorno Karabakh conflict and urge them not to vote in favor of that draft resolution.

At the same time, Mr Rustamyan is in favor of a second process parallel to the Karabakh settlement: Armenia must start the process of Karabakh's international recognition, which will not run counter to the mediating process of the OSCE Minsk Group. Even more, he is sure that the first country to recognize Karabakh's independence must be Armenia.

The strategic alliance between Armenia and Karabakh is a very important step to counterbalance to the Azerbaijani-Turkish tandem.

"A military-political alliance should be forged which will clearly say that Armenia is the guarantor of Artsakh's security and independence," explained he.

Asked whether he sees Armenia's authorities taking any such steps for this purpose Mr Rustamyan said: "I see some timid steps," adding that they are taken simply for domestic.